Is an Urban Exodus the Solution for African Americans?

[BigMan]

Urbanization hurt the blacks in Chicago, NYC, California, and etc.
I think this is why the black family was able to maintain a strong bond in the south, they could still achieve a measure of self sufficiency and interconnectedness down here and weren't isolated and left reliant on white handouts like non-southern blacks.

Do you have non anecdotal evidence for this?

 

[David_TheMan]

Do you have non anecdotal evidence for this?

I read it in one of my books, I'm going to look for it and tag you if I find it or if I don't

 

[frankster]

both sides of my family have extensive farm land, and its my dream in 10 - 15 years to purchase 200- 300 acres of land myself for a homestead.
I would suggest all my young black professionals think the same.

Great Idea

 

[David_TheMan]

Do you have non anecdotal evidence for this?

Hey man I can't find for the life of me where I read it. I'll do some more looking and send you link if I find it.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

Is going rural valuable for real estate or Are you guys going the agricultural route?

 

[T'krm]

I thought it was in reference to leaving country, all together, but nonetheless he does make a point on over all over-dependence on agricultural system that's controlled by others, and the lack of subsistence that results but besides ownership - is absolutely essential for all Americandos, essentially this a zero sum game because the true shackles of economic, and social domination aren't addressed, merely mitigated.

 

[JahFocus CS]

There is no long-term future for urban populations when you look at the long-term trends of capitalist political economy, climate change, and increasing authoritarianism. So yes.

 

[Bawon Samedi]

Nah... AAs should be in urban, suburban and rural settings. We cant have eggs in one basket.

 

[Neuromancer]

Nah... AAs should be in urban, suburban and rural settings. We cant have eggs in one basket.

agreed I always think of extermination protocols. If you are in one place they can just bomb you into ash. Now having a rural home base and urban satellites might work.

 

[Namekian Maranantha]

A rural involvement so as to become more self sufficient? Absolutely.

An urban exodus? Kind of questionable....
but for the sake of entertaining thought, lets say we do an exodus. What all is involved in the exodus..... simply packing our bags and leaving? Of course not.
(duh right? lol)

I think a reconsideration of the quality of life we are willing to accept and tolerate is amongst many critical elements to think about before any exodus can happen (or should happen). Most of us were raised and so indoctrinated with the values and customs of "Urban Life" which will affect not only our willingness to go, but also our satisfaction and commitment having gone.

Therefore, i think a big component to even consider a physical exodus from urban life is to first actually achieve an exodus from the mental urban value system (which obviously has its hurdles) and see what happens from there..

 

[Neuromancer]

A rural involvement so as to become more self sufficient? Absolutely.

An urban exodus? Kind of questionable....
but for the sake of entertaining thought, lets say we do an exodus. What all is involved in the exodus..... simply packing our bags and leaving? Of course not.
(duh right? lol)

I think a reconsideration of the quality of life we are willing to accept and tolerate is amongst many critical elements to think about before any exodus can happen (or should happen). Most of us were raised and so indoctrinated with the values and customs of "Urban Life" which will affect not only our willingness to go, but also our satisfaction and commitment having gone.

Therefore, i think a big component to even consider a physical exodus from urban life is to first actually achieve an exodus from the mental urban value system (which obviously has its hurdles) and see what happens from there..

I think also establishing a group economy may help.

 

[Geode]

If anything, we should be creating a black supply chain that incorporates rural, suburban and urban entities.

But I think the OP is referring to subsistence farming, which is cool too. Especially if you got any size of land available.

Whatever land I get in the future, I want to have at least a greenhouse.

 

[Easy-E]

My question when we ask this, and I hope I don't come off as a troll,

Where are we getting water from? How do we sustain roads, trash collection, etc.?

Everyone wants to run from "white people," but, can you name me a black company that provides electricity for 20,000 black families? 10,000?

Again, we have no farmland. How do we fix that with only 3% of the wealth in country?

It's hard to translate 10 people's success into the lives of 40 million people.

We keep trying to go in circles because the "taking it back" narrative appeals to us so much.

It's 2019, farms aren't the wave right now.

African Americans, despite making up 13 percent of the population, own less than 1 percent of rural land in the country. The combined value of this land: $ 14 billion.

Other efforts aimed at amassing Black dollars have fallen short. Thenumber of Black-owned banks and credit unions continues to dwindle. A decade ago there were more than 50; that number is now down to 23. And Black-owned businesses in general struggle financially.

The racial disparity in rural land ownership has deep historical roots based not just in chattel slavery, but in the post-slavery period as well. After emancipation, black farmers tended to be tenants of wealthy white landowners working for sub-poverty wages and doing mostly subsistence farming. Average land ownership for black farmers peaked in 1910, according to the Agriculture Census, with about 16 to 19 acres. In contrast, black farmers owned just 1.5 million acres of arable land in 1997.

In many cases, the land African Americans lost over the 20th century was expropriated in one form or another and not sold freely. In the 2007 documentary, Banished, filmmaker Marco Williams describes numerous examples of white mobs forcing out African-American farmers and taking their land. This outright stealing, intimidation, and violence had a devastating impact on black wealth ownership.

Why Co-ops and Community Farms Can’t Close the Racial Wealth Gap

Who Owns Almost All America’s Land? - Inequality.org

The biggest thing we miss addressing, with a "black" President, was the lack of reasonable lending to black businesses.

We wouldn't be able to be funded to do much in our current state.