How Black farmers are sowing seeds of racial justice, liberty, and equity

In 1997, Black farmers filed a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of discriminatory practices that led to land loss, farm closures, and foreclosures. The National Black Farmers Association (NBFA), founded by John Boyd, Jr., led the effort. A consent decree identified 22,363 Black farmers who had faced discrimination. The initial settlement, valued at $1.06 billion, included cash relief, tax payments, and debt relief, making it one of the largest civil rights class-action settlements in U.S. history. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed a law providing an additional $1.15 billion to compensate farmers excluded from the original settlement.

The history, struggles, and future of Black farmers are deeply tied to America’s social, political, and economic marginalization. Black farmers make up less than 2% of all U.S. farmers, a share that has changed significantly over the past century. Between 1910 and 1920, Black farm ownership and operation peaked. In 1910, the number of Black farmers in the Deep South—states like Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi—doubled from previous decades, reaching 212,972. This growth was supported by Black-owned banks, businesses, and fair competition with white farmers. However, World War I marked the beginning of a decline, as many Black families left agriculture for manufacturing jobs in the North and to escape racial violence. According to census data, Black farm ownership has steadily declined from 41.4 million acres in 1920 to 5.3 million acres across 32,700 farms in 2022.

The Southern U.S. remains home to many Black farmers, particularly in states like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina. Census data also shows a slight increase in the number of Black-owned farms since 1997.  

Black life in the U.S. has long been tied to farming and former plantations. This connection between land and an agrarian economy enslaved Black people, established the foundation for economic growth, and shaped political participation rules. By the late 18th and 19th centuries, King Cotton and and Queen Sugar became the backbone of the U.S. economy, with Black labor driving the nation’s rise as a capitalist superpower.

When slavery ended, 3.9 million formerly enslaved Black Americans were denied land grants. They were promised 40 acres, as outlined in General Sherman’s Field Order 15 (1865), which allocated 400,000 acres of confiscated Confederate land to those recently freed. The addition of a mule came later, but the promise of “40 acres and a mule” remains a symbol of broken reparations, land ownership, and social mobility for Black people. Meanwhile, many white Southerners received 160 acres of land after the Civil War. During Reconstruction and afterward, some Black communities saw increased social mobility, but this progress was often destroyed by white mob violence and massacres, such as the 1917 East St. Louis massacre and the 1921 Tulsa massacre, which included the bombing of “Black Wall Street.”

Sharecropping, share-renting, and cash-renting kept many Black families tied to former plantations. Sharecropping, the most prevalent of these three agricultural labor systems, has been described by some historians as a form of feudalism that aimed to “immobilize free labor for at least nine months to guarantee harvest.” In sharecropping, Black farmers entered unfavorable contracts with white landowners, who used debt, violence, and laws to restrict Black economic mobility and prevent them from leaving when disputes arose. Lacking protection from local, county, state, or federal authorities, Black farmers’ labor and contributions were historically and systematically devalued.

As W.E.B. DuBois noted, there is potential for cooperation within the American economy, especially regarding farmland use. The 1997 lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman documented the USDA’s systemic exclusion of Black farmers from grant and lease programs, as well as how local county committees, through the USDA, failed to provide timely farm loans, debt restructuring, and other assistance. The lawsuit alleged race-based discrimination in denying Black farmers loans and other benefits that white farmers received and claimed the USDA did not investigate complaints filed by Black farmers. These actions led to Black farmers losing land, accruing debt, and ultimately leaving the profession, contributing to the decline in the number of Black farmers. More than 61,000 complainants filed claims under the Pigford lawsuit, and through congressional action, the statute of limitations was extended to allow more complainants to file and receive compensation for historical discrimination by the USDA. The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Policy Research Center has assisted the USDA in identifying barriers to racial equity.

Although the Pigford v. Glickman class action discrimination lawsuit did not make many Black farmers whole, it highlighted the historical nature of racial discrimination and the USDA’s failure to respond to complaints from minority farmers alleging such bias. Since the Pigford I decision in 1999 and the Pigford II decision in 2011, remedial legislative measures have been passed to address the claims of racial discrimination made by Black farmers.

The future of Black farming depends on advocacy groups like the NBFA to lead the reparation and restoration efforts, aiming for racial and economic justice for Black farmers. Understanding the extent of Black land loss is crucial to addressing the wealth gaps between Black and white farming communities and improving the social mobility of Black landowners. The NBFA and John Boyd Jr. continue to advocate for thousands of Black farmers not included in the original lawsuits and work to ensure Black farmers receive the same benefits as their white counterparts. 

Mr. Boyd, Jr. shared his strategy for civil rights, racial justice, and equity for Black farmers with Rashawn Ray at the Brookings Institution on February 20, 2025.