The Black farmer and land in south-central Alabama: Strategies to preserve a scarce resource

Zabawa, Robert

doi:10.1007/bf00888977

Cited by 22 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…A study conducted by the Emergency Land Fund in the 1980s revealed that about 80 percent of African American rural landowners do not have wills (Thomas et al 2004). There are several possible explanations for this: distrust of the legal system, superstition, lack of education, and reluctance to make decisions that may cause friction between family members (Zabawa 1991). The director of a rural housing assistance program in Alabama reports that she and her coworkers provide information to about 500 families a year and encounter heir titles on a daily basis.…”

Section: Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Management of heir property is difficult because of confusion about who owns what and how much. Zabawa (1991) found that farmers operating on heir property tended not to invest in improvements that would increase the productivity or value of the land since such improvements may encourage other co-owners to capture part of the increased value by selling their share of the land. Known as a partition sale, a co-owner does not need consent of the other heirs to force a court-ordered sale of the entire property to the highest bidder.…”

Section: Challenges In Managing Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Proceeds are distributed among co-owners according to their fractional interests, but only after the costs of conducting the sale and attorney fees are deducted (Thomas et al 2004). In some cases, developers may purchase a distant relative's share, then ask to have this share be sold-forcing the whole tract of land to be sold (Zabawa 1991). Even when partition sales are sought by family members, it is usually family members who do not live on or near the property and do not have any ties to the land (Mitchell 2001).…”

Section: Challenges In Managing Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Place to Call Home: Cultural Understandings of Heir Property among Rural African Americans*

Dyer¹,

Bailey²

2008

Rural Sociology

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Heir property is land held communally by family members of a landowner who has died intestate. Because this informal arrangement does not fit neatly into the individualist‐centered, integrated property rights system of the United States, it is viewed by most as a hindrance to economic development and capitalism. We present an alternative framework for analyzing the significance of heir property in the African American community and its constraints. While the consequences of owning land with clouded title are clear‐ineligibility for housing programs, inability to secure a mortgage or sell timber, and vulnerability to land loss through partition and tax sales‐we argue that a culturally‐based understanding of heir property provides insight to why it persists among rural African Americans. Based on personal interviews with heir property owners, lawyers, housing counselors, and county officials, the authors illustrate how heir property is supportive of certain cultural values and meets the needs of a subset of rural populations in ways that other forms of property ownership cannot.

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Section: Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges In Managing Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges In Managing Heir Propertymentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Place to Call Home: Cultural Understandings of Heir Property among Rural African Americans*

Dyer¹,

Bailey²

2008

Rural Sociology

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“…Intervention programs also must be tailored to Finally, these data point to additional topics that Notes 1. Current research on black farmers in the southeastern United States has focused on the declining numbers of these farmers and on the loss of farmland owned by blacks (Barlett, 1993;Zabawa, 1989Zabawa, ,1991Zabawa, Siaway, & Baharanyi, 1990). One of the interviewers from Kentucky State University was white.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Respondents ranged in age from 24 to 77 years. Given the demographic structure of the black farm population (Zabawa, 1991;Zabawa, et al, 1990), it is not surprising that most of the respondents were in their 50s (nine) and 60s (lo), with seven aged in their 20s to 40s, and four in their 70s (the age of one respondent was not reported). Twenty-six of the respondents were farm owners/ operators, with the other five being farm workers.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Perceptions of Occupational Hazards Among Black Farmers in the Southeastern United States

Arcury

1995

The Journal of Rural Health

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Farming is one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States, and it is no less dangerous for black farmers than it is for farmers of other ethnic backgrounds. Yet very little research has addressed the epidemiology of occupational risks for black farmers, nor has research investigated the risk perceptions of black farmers. Occupational risk perception data are needed if culturally appropriate interventions are to be implemented. This article presents the results of a study designed as a first step in the process of designing an intervention program for black farmers. This study used data collected through in‐depth interviews and focus group interviews to analyze the occupational risk perceptions of black farmers in four southeastern states: Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee. These farmers are realistic about the hazardous nature of farming. They perceive carelessness rather than fate to be an important cause of farm injury. They realize that changing technology has brought new risks as well as benefits. Like those from other ethnic backgrounds, these farmers grouped most of their occupational risks around the major production activities of using machinery, using chemicals, and working with livestock.

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“A Privilege and a Challenge”: Valuation of Heirs’ Property by African American Landowners and Implications for Forest Management in the Southeastern U.S.

Hitchner

Schelhas

Gaither

2017

Small-scale Forestry

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The Black farmer and land in south-central Alabama: Strategies to preserve a scarce resource

Cited by 22 publications

References 8 publications

A Place to Call Home: Cultural Understandings of Heir Property among Rural African Americans*

A Place to Call Home: Cultural Understandings of Heir Property among Rural African Americans*

Risk Perceptions of Occupational Hazards Among Black Farmers in the Southeastern United States

“A Privilege and a Challenge”: Valuation of Heirs’ Property by African American Landowners and Implications for Forest Management in the Southeastern U.S.

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