By Vincent L. Hall
What you want you, a house? You, a car? Forty acres and a mule? A piano, a guitar?
–Kendrick Lamar’s Award-winning single “Alright,” 2015
My baby daughter Alison gave me two things that I will cherish forever. She hipped me to Spotify precisely 10 years ago. When I am dead and gone, you can return to my custom-built playlists, which will serve as a requiem for my life. That was a good tip.
But a couple of years ago, Alison steered me toward podcasts. Like you, I thought it was a respite area for fanatics of all sorts on an egghead island that enjoyed droning on and on about their favorite subject.
Eventually, I got hooked on a series called “Drapetomaniax.” (Look up the word Drapetomania; I only get 700 words on this Massa Smith’s plantation. LOL) Now I live on podcasts.
So, when my friend/son/brother/confidant Pastor Damian Durr told me to download “40 Acres and a Lie,” I rushed to comply with his order. It would help if you did the same. “Reveal” podcasts with PRX produced one of the best fact-based cases for reparations ever. “Reveal is the country’s first weekly investigative public radio show and podcast. Peabody Award-winning host Al Letson takes listeners across the country and the world, exposing wrongs and holding the powerful accountable.
“Whether it’s Amazon’s poor workplace safety record, inequity in the juvenile justice system or exploitation at drug rehabs, Reveal connects with listeners through gripping and compassionate story-telling.”
So go to the Reveal web- site and have yourself a ball; I will eventually get through all of them. That was a commercial break, so let’s go back to our previously scheduled episode of Quit Playin’, 40 Acres and a Lie.
And what a lie it was!
Most of us are familiar with the idea and concept, but let’s set the scene. In January 1865, General William T. Sherman carried out President Abraham Lincoln’s edict. Special Field Orders, No. 15—better known as 40 Acres and a Mule—were set to ensure the freed captives could gain their own start and build lives.
In fact, in many of the re- corded narratives of the former bondsmen and women, all they wanted was a piece of land and to be left alone. For about 18 months, until Andrew Johnson got into office, thousands of acres were granted. According to the podcast, Special Field Orders No. 15 are often believed to be an empty promise, but it was much more.’
“It was real. Over a more than two-year investigation, our partners at the Center for Public Integrity have unearthed thou- sands of records once buried in the National Archives. In them, they found more than 1,200 formerly enslaved people who were given land by the federal government through field orders – and then saw that land taken away.”
Forty Acres and a Lie presents a story that humanizes the devastated lives of our people who thought they would be compensated for years of free labor and had it all drawn back, not to mention the billions of dollars that those parcels are worth today.
One interview centered on some prime land on Sea Island in Georgia. “Johnson rescinded Sherman’s order just six months after it went into effect. Military generals leading the Freedmen’s Bureau didn’t want to see it go, but ultimately Johnson forced their hand. By the time it was all over, the 40-acre program would last about 18 months.
Around 40,000 freed people had settled on hundreds of thousands of acres across Georgia and South Carolina. Not all of them had land titles, but many believed it was only a matter of time.
Instead, the land would be returned to former slaveholders. And Allison says, it’s hard to overstate just how devastating this was for freed people.”
Forty acres and a mule has been a staple in African American music, conversations, and culture. It was worse than a lie, this land grab was another canceled check that Dr. King referenced in his “Dream” speech.
You need to learn your history in order not to repeat the pitfalls. In 2024 your Civil Rights are being rescinded, and the loss of the same will devastate you. Donald Trump has praised Andrew Johnson relentlessly. Now you don’t have to wonder why!
Kendrick is partially correct. We gon’ be alright if we ever quit playin’!
A long-time Texas Metro News columnist, Dallas native Vincent L. Hall is an author, writer, award-winning writer, and a lifelong Drapetomaniac.
