Freedman

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.