By — John Yang, PBS News Weekend
In 1910, about 14 percent of U.S. farmers were Black, owning more than 16 million acres. Now, according to the latest Census of Agriculture, only one in 100 farmers is Black, owning less than 5 million acres. A new documentary explores how this happened, its lasting effect on Black families and their efforts now to reclaim their legacy. Filmmaker Eternal Polk joins John Yang to discuss.
John Yang:
In 1910, about 14 percent of U.S. farmers were black, owning more than 16 million acres. Now, according to the agriculture’s latest farm census, only one in 100 farmers is black owning fewer than 5 million acres. By one estimate, that’s a loss of land value of about $326 billion.
A new documentary called “Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land” explores how this happened, its lasting effect on black families and their efforts now to reclaim their legacy and create generational wealth.
Emmy nominated Eternal Polk wrote and directed the film and is one of the film’s executive producers, along with the television personality Al Roker. How did this big drop in black farmers and black farmland ownership? How did this happen?