Anyone know the demographics on rural America? Why no proportional representation of PoC?

[uponit7771]

Its not like PoC don't want to farm etc?

I'm thinking institutionalized racism ... seems like a huge effect of rural redlining...


thx in advance for any input on this

[brooklynite]

1. It's mostly White people, because the population is mostly White people...

...African Americans are only 13% of the population; Hispanics are only 17%; while the two in combination would be 30%, they're not generally in the same rural areas. AAs are in the rural south and Hispanics are in the west.

[uponit7771]

8. You're right, I changed OP to ' Why no proportional representation of PoC? '

[jonno99]

2. Google is your friend...

http://www.blackfarmers.org/about.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/14/466565785/farmer-john-boyd-jr-wants-african-americans-to-reconnect-with-farming

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/after-a-century-in-decline-black-farmers-are-back-and-on-the-rise-20160505

[uponit7771]

3. thx !!

[bhikkhu]

4. I don't know about other areas personally, but eastern oregon

is white because that was the law, back when the area was settled. "Sunset law" and so forth. My small town was almost exclusively white until the 50's; even when the law was gone the tradition stayed around, and people don't tend to live where they don't feel welcome.

In addition to that, it takes money to farm, it takes money to start, banks and insurance and local relationships to keep it going. There is some diversity in town now, but the farming industry isn't where the growth is, and when people move in it isn't to farm.

[2naSalit]

5. Other than that

there are few jobs and they don't get hired in most places out in the Rockies either.

[uponit7771]

6. +1, this is my understanding also; the USDA was against giving loans to PoC

[uppityperson]

7. This has a PDF with lots of diagrams, charts

http://www.ruralhome.org/sct-information/mn-hac-research/rural-rrb/484-rrn-race-and-ethnicity

[EffieBlack]

9. Institutional racism to the nth degree

USDA, Black Farmers Settle Bias Lawsuit
By Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 6, 1999

A federal judge yesterday tentatively approved a historic agreement
requiring the Department of Agriculture to pay hundreds of millions
of dollars to black farmers who say they were denied government
loans and other assistance because of their race.

The agreement settles a class action lawsuit filed in 1997 by more
than 1,000 black farmers and marks the first time that the
government has agreed to compensate them as a group for racial bias
that has been documented by various federal officials for years.
Discrimination by USDA officials has been cited by civil rights
advocates and others as a major reason why the ranks of black
farmers have dwindled at three times the rate of white farmers.
Blacks now account for less than 1 percent of the nation's farmers.

https://www.fs.fed.us/people/aasg/correspondence/wp_farmers.html

Department of Justice and USDA Announce Historic Settlement in Lawsuit by Black Farmers Claiming Discrimination by USDA

Attorney General Eric Holder and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the successful resolution of the longstanding litigation known as Pigford II. The settlement agreement reached today, which is contingent on appropriation by Congress, will provide a total of $1.25 billion to African American farmers who alleged that they suffered racial discrimination in USDA farm loan programs. The settlement sets up a non-judicial claims process through which individual farmers may demonstrate their entitlement to cash damages awards and debt relief.

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-and-usda-announce-historic-settlement-lawsuit-black-farmers-claiming

[JNelson6563]

10. Rural areas tend to be white.

Here in northern MI it's like a Wonder Bread factory. And let me tell you, non-whites learn quickly they aren't welcome. The local police sure do their part.

It's very old school and totally backwards up here. Incestuous even. Ugh.

Will not be retiring in these parts. Too 1800s for me.

[uponit7771]

11. yeap, After reading about Oregon I'm thinking they tend to be white on purpose too

[Buckeye_Democrat]

12. Lots of farms were passed down from generation to generation.

And much of the land was declared "legally owned" by white people when African Americans weren't allowed. African Americans were mostly held back when the starting gun was fired.

Play a game of Monopoly and hold back several players from their turn. Then see how they do when they're finally allowed to move their pieces around the board, landing on other player's "Park Place" or "Boardwalk" which already has houses and hotels on it.

[uponit7771]

13. +1

[ileus]

14. rural doesn't equal farm...

For every one farm there's 100's of individual homes on lots that used to be parts of farms 5-40 years ago. Where I live is a prime example of what used to be a family farm, along with about 10 of my neighbors. The closest we have is a Biracial girl (12yo) same age as my son, that lives next door to us. Her mother rents the only piece of rental property in the valley and it's still owned by the same landowner that subdivided parts of their farm back in the 90's.

Land and homes are hard to buy even for successful people, much less folks that have been oppressed by the system for hundreds of years. To buy the place we had 50k from a home I sold before moving here, that's a lot of scratch to come up with.

You also need to take into account that families have a tendency to split their property to their own children in many cases. Thus if it starts out white it tends to stay that way.