And life was almost as bleak for white tenant farmers and sharecroppers as it was for slaves, who often worked alongside them in the fields. |
Born between the early 1890s and the 1930s, all grew up poor, most came from farming families, and many were sharecroppers. |
But there's a limited amount of stuff to harvest, and bringing in more sharecroppers and putting in longer hours isn't really going to pay off. |
Most African Americans in the cotton parishes worked as sharecroppers or tenants, closely supervised by plantation owners or managers. |
As southern cotton growers reduced production in return for federal payments, sharecroppers and tenant farmers were driven from the land. |
The music that I grew up listening to was really raw music played by neighbours, fellow farmers and sharecroppers. |