THE OLD SOUTH AND THE NEW 69 



does not make a return to the community in some form or other, 

 has no justification for its existence. 



The possibilities of the Negro farmer are indicated by the 

 progress that he has made in fifty years. In 1863 there were 

 in all the United States only a few farms owned by Negroes. 

 They now (1910) operate in the South 890,140 farms which are 

 217,800 more than there were in this section in 1863. 



Negro farm laborers and Negro farmers in the South now 

 cultivate approximately 100,000,000 acres of land, of which 42,- 

 500,000 acres are under the control of Negro farmers. The in- 

 crease of Negro farm owners in the past fifty years compares 

 favorably with the increase of white farm owners. The Negroes 

 of this country now own 20,000,000 acres or 31,000 square miles 

 of land. If all the land they own were placed in one body, its 

 area would be greater than that of the state of South Carolina. 



The Negro has made his greatest progress in agriculture dur- 

 ing the past ten years. Prom 1900 to 1910 the total value of 

 farm property owned by the colored farmers of the South in- 

 creased from $177,404,688 to $492,898,218, or 177 per cent. 



In view of all this it seems to me that it is the part of wisdom 

 to take hold of this problem in a broad, statesmanlike way. In- 

 stead of striving to keep the Negro down, we should devote the 

 time and money and effort that is now used for the purpose of 

 punishing the Negro for crimes, committed in many instances 

 because he has been neglected and allowed to grow up in ig- 

 norance without ambition and without hope and use it for the 

 purpose of making the Negro a better and more useful citizen. 



FOLLOWING THE COLOR LINE 1 



RAY STANNARD BAKER 



GENERALLY speaking, the sharpest race prejudice in the South 

 is exhibited by the poorer -class of white people, whether far- 

 mers, artisans or unskilled workers, who come into active com- 

 petition with the Negroes, or from politicians who are seeking 



i Adapted from "Following the Color Line," American Magazine, 64: 

 381-393, July, 1907. 



