Narrator / historian (Unknown)

I don't think they understand our business one bit.

Nobody asks you what race you are when you price fertilizer.

After the fall of slavery, owning a piece of land that could be worked and farmed symbolized freedom.

During Reconstruction, Black folks saved their money.

They worked together as a family, as a cooperative, and they bought land that allowed Black families to build communities up to

16 million acres.

For decades, the U.S.

Department of Agriculture systematically favored white farmers by denying loans to black farmers.

And discrimination was widespread at its local branches, which were largely run by all-white county committees.

We'd fill out the papers and then they would just take the paperwork and just throw it in the trash.

Without the same access to funds, Black farmers struggle to keep up with their white competitors and are often forced out of business.

In 1999, thousands of Black farmers settled a historic class action discrimination lawsuit against the USDA in a landmark case called Pigford v. Glickman.

The government agreed to pay out more than $1 billion, with thousands of Black farmers receiving up to $50,000 each.