When the Constitution was drafted, Blacks were legally classified as property. Since then, the Emancipation Proclamation, 14th Amendment, and Civil Rights legislation have attempted to eliminate the anti-human treatment of the descendants of enslaved Africans. Unfortunately, these changes appear to be fundamentally at odds with American democracy’s allegiance to the Founding Fathers’ definition of property rights as witnessed in gross inequities throughout American institutions.  

At the turn of the century, Blacks owned between 16-19 million acres of land; however, today, they own less than 2 million acres of land. In the modern era, significant legislation and institutional policy continue to perpetuate anti-black racism which is firmly rooted in disproportionate property dispossession. The corresponding wealth inequities in land have far-reaching implications for political, economic, and health inequities. Thus, racial wealth and health inequities highlight the lingering legacy of our Nation’s shameful history.  

This course will explore the unique opportunities presented by agriculture system policy to right America’s original tragic wrong and create a model for eliminating systemic anti-blackness. The course will lay an analytical foundation through examining readings on critical race theory and agriculture policy. The course will explore, as a case study, the policy priorities of the Federation of Southern Cooperative/Land Assistance Fund a 55-year-old non-profit cooperative association serving Black farmers, landowners, and cooperatives throughout the South as they advocate for a community-led, cooperatively-owned, equitable food system.