Land Tenure in the United States: Returning African-Americans to the Land

July 23, 2004

The authors provide a study of the land tenure pattern of Black farmers in the rual Southeastern U.S. Drawing from data on land tenure patterns in the South and in communities of color in particular, an aging population of black land owners emerges and suggests larger trends in U.S. agriculture towards a decline of African-Americans in the farming sector. A case study of the Mississippi Delta provides strong evidence of the need for policy to address unequal tenancy patterns and the continued role that policy can play in correcting for persistent inequality in the access to resources and land.

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