CHAPTER III 



THE NEGRO'S AGRICULTURAL OPPORTUNITY. 



All during the period of the change from the plantation 

 system to a system of small owners and tenants the Negro 

 has had exceptional agricultural opportunity. The previous 

 chapter made it plain that many landlords were forced by 

 circumstances to give up the labor system. The extent to 

 which the Negro has been able to benefit himself by the 

 situation has been dependent upon several factors. The 

 chief considerations have been: The willingness or unwill- 

 ingness of the landlords to rent their land to Negroes rather 

 than cultivate it with laborers ; the extent to which they as 

 tenants have been able to withstand white competition, and 

 the limited capital and foresight which they had when eman- 

 cipated. 



THE WHITE MAN'S AID AND COMPETITION 



Though ignorance and lack of previous training in thrift 

 and foresight have often made individual colored men easy 

 victims of economic exploitation, the fundamental interests 

 of the two races of the South have been one. Even during the 

 period of reconstruction when race friction was greatly in- 

 creased by efforts to secure political domination for the Ne- 

 gro, it cannot be said that there was an inter-racial struggle 

 for other than political existence in the South. The common 

 interests were those arising from the necessity of rebuilding 

 the agricultural system and establishing a system of rural 

 credits, farm management, marketing, and social institu- 

 tions which would enable the two races to work side by side 

 for the welfare of Southern society with a minimum of fric- 

 tion. It has involved competition between the members of 

 the two races for tenure of land, but this is competition in its 



