To the men who conduct our
freedom:
We are freedmen of servitude and
citizens of the United States who legally hold rights equal to white men. We
the sharecroppers come before you in concern of an obvious and injustice issue
that continues without a spoken word of your people. Regardless of our given
rights and the protection that was promised, we linger in a society of
damnation. Discriminated and lynched only by our color. What happened to our
protection? How long must we suffer before justice is served? Despite our fatigued bodies, we have worked to
live without a decision to live a peaceful life. Our people are limited to
other occupations other than a servant. The conditions of our homes, food, and
water are pitiable and diminutive. Do we not deserve better? Are we not of
equal men? Please understand our stories. We are sharecroppers who were granted
40 acres of land by federal authorities, However it had not followed through.
Instead we are sweating and working to create the sharecroppers who have dug
into the depths of soil; our hands filled with dirt, scars, and blood serving
the white men. Although we sweat from working to the bones our lives are in no
repay of sufficient sleep, food, or water. We only collect 10% of profit earned
from our crops; however the essential tools used for planting and harvesting
come with a price. We cannot afford to pay rent for these toolswhile paying a
percentage of rent to our homes. Days are long and nights are cold. Our
families suffer under these circumstances each day and we are becoming sick.
This generation has continued for centuries and our people are suffering. We
grow large crops in a field as payment of our homes and food loans. Our people
are entitled to the equal civil rights of white American citizens. Fathers of
the government we ask for your support for justice. We have suffered long
enough. You had granted protection of our rights, but we have not yet seen any
assistance promised.
We work so hard! Can’t you see
that we are human beings just like everyone else why should we get treated
differently? It is not our fault that we are different color? Please find it in
your heart to look beyond that and realize how in justice this all is. We do
greatly appreciate the diminutive materials that we have now, but it is not
fair that we do not all share the same rights. We ask to for you to please help
us out of this ongoing cycle, of in justice and suffering that our families go
through on a daily basis, wondering if we will ever get treated equal. Even
though the freedmen’s bureau bill was passed to help us former slaves through
legal help, food, education, health care and employment contracts with private
owners, we have fallen into another system that we feel have no way out.
The crop-lien system provides us
with food and supplies all year long on credit, at a high interest, but if our
crops do not cover the debt we start in red the following year. Although, the
crop lien system is here to give us a hand and help us with what we need, we
have begun seeing it more of a trap that we former slaves have fell into.
Borrowing at a high rates, so that we can harvest our crops this system has
made landowners and us sharecroppers depend on local merchants, it prevents the
development of diversified farming in the South, from expanding into new areas.
Overall, we don’t ask for much we
just want to be treated equally no segregation or discrimination; after all we
are all human beings.
