The statistics of farm and home ownership and of mortgage indebtedness
of the Eleventh Census throw some light upon the pecuniary condition of
the negro race.
The total number of farms and homes in the country in 1890 was
12,690,152, of which the negroes occupied 1,410,769, or 11.1 per cent.
The proportion of negroes to the total population was at that time 12.20
per cent., showing a deficiency in the proportion occupying homes and
farms when compared with the population.
The number of farms in the country was 4,767,179. Of these, 549,642, or
11.5 per cent., were occupied by negroes, being a proportion greater
than that of farms and homes combined.
The number of homes, as distinguished from farms, in the country was
7,922,973, of which 861,137, or 10.9 per cent., were occupied by
negroes, being a proportion less than that of farms and homes combined.
Of the 549,632 farms in the country occupied by negroes, 120,738, or
22.0 per cent., were owned by their occupants. The corresponding
proportion for whites was 71.7 per cent. Of course, as regards tenants,
the reverse was the case, the proportions being for whites 28.3 per
cent, and for negroes 78.0 per cent. More than three-fourths of the
farms occupied by negroes were rented; in other words, more than
three-fourths of the negro farmers were tenants, while less than
one-fourth of the white farmers were tenants.
Of the farms owned by the negroes, 90.4 per cent. were without
incumbrance. Of those owned by whites, 71.3 were without incumbrance,
showing a much larger proportion encumbered than among those owned by
negroes.
Of 861,137 homes occupied by negroes in 1890, 143,550 were owned by
their occupants and 717,587 were rented, the proportions being 19.0 per
cent. and 81.0 per cent. Corresponding proportions for whites were 39.4
per cent. and 60.6 per cent. Of the houses owned by negro occupants,
126,264, or 87.7 per cent., were free and 12.3 encumbered. Corresponding
figures for whites were 71.3 and 28.7 per cent., showing, as before, a
much greater proportion of free holdings among negroes than among
whites.
Diagrams Nos. 11 and 12 summarize the above facts in graphic form. The
total areas of the squares represent the number of farms and homes
respectively, those occupied by whites and negroes respectively being
represented by the rectangles into which the squares are divided by
horizontal lines. The vertical lines sub-divide these rectangles into
others proportional to the numbers occupied by owners without and with
incumbrance, and by renters.
The male negroes occupied in agriculture numbered, in 1890, 1,329,584.
Of these, 510,619 occupied farms, the remainder, 818,965, being
presumably farm laborers. The negro farmers, _i. e._, occupants of
farms, constituted 38.3 per cent. of the male negroes engaged in
agriculture, leaving 61.7 per cent. of the number as laborers. The
corresponding figures for whites were 60.4 per cent. and 39.6 per cent.
The proportion of negroes engaged in agriculture who were farmers—_i.
e._, occupied farms—was, therefore, much smaller than that of the
whites. In spite of this low comparative showing, however, it must be
agreed that, considering all the attendant circumstances, the proportion
of negro farm occupants—more than one-third of all negroes engaged in
agriculture—is unexpectedly large.
Summing up the salient points in this paper, it is seen that in the
matter of occupations the negro is mainly engaged either in agriculture
or personal service. He has, in a generation, made little progress in
manufactures, transportation, or trade. In these two groups of
occupations, males are in greater proportion engaged in agriculture and
females in domestic service. They have, however, during this generation,
made good progress toward acquiring property, especially in the form of
homes and farms, and, in just so far as they have acquired possession of
real estate, it is safe to say that they have become more valuable as
citizens. The outlook for them is very favorable as agriculturists, but
there is little prospect that the race will become an important factor
in manufactures, transportation, or commerce.
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