Since Reconstruction Sharecropping
Has had a bad wrap
Landlords branded ogres
Tenants victims
But…
It was the only way
For Landlord had only land…no cash or credit
And Tenant had only labor to offer
And when both were honest it saved both from starvation
To be sure
Some Landlords were tyrants
Some Tenants slackers
But many of each were not
Take George Dennis Moreland of Leesburg, Georgia
Who died in 1950
He had nothing in 1920
When a two-decade farming depression commenced
When he died he had several thousand debt-free acres
And many black Tenants
Some farming with tractors he supplied
Some still with his mules if they chose
He charged Tenants no interest in a failed year
Caused by weather or boll weevil or crop price collapse
He shared the misery
And treated his Tenants more than fair
In short he had integrity
And his Tenants responded
With honest labor
Both made the best of their only opportunity
Both thrived on pork
And collard greens
Grown on the land
God provided
And they had quail
And possum and raccoon
No ghettos
No gangs
so true