Black Land Loss: 1920−1997

Abstract

Black agricultural land ownership was at a peak just after the turn of the twentieth century; however, there was a nearly 90 percent decline in ownership from 1910 to 1997 (US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 1840–2012). In this paper, we use US Census of Agriculture (COA) data to estimate that the present, compounded value of the Black land loss from 1920 to 1997 is roughly $326 billion.

Keywords: Black land ownership, Black land loss, dispossession, US Census, reparations, law and economics, civil rights, discrimination

JEL Classification: J15, N32, N52, Q15