Hays, Brooks

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Speech reflecting on challenges facing the American South -9- We have a solution to this evil in the principles embodied in the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Bill, which was passed by the United States Senate last June with the sponsorship of Senator John H. Bankhead. Again the point is raised, "Isn't the tenancy evil just another Negro problem?" Now I don't think that is any reason why it should not be tackled. But the fact is that it is not - it has become the white man's problem. With practically two million tenants and croppers in the South, less than 800,000, only 40 percent, are negroes. The tremendous increase in tenancy in the South between 1920 and 1930 was attributable to the gain in the number of white tenants. Actually, the number of negro tenants decreased. The number of white tenants increased 69 percent. In the face of that, how can anybody have the nerve to wave the matter aside with that old worn-out cry, "You're trying to help the nigger". Also, it must be conceded that some forms of tenancy are not particularly objectionable. For example, the owner wants to retire. He lives nearby and rents to a friend, or perhaps a relative. He watches his land and cares for it faithfully. But in my state (I could lead you to the place) there is a tenant with his wife and two boys living in a house he built himself with scraps of tin and lumber because the landlord, who...

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Brooks Hays Materials

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University of Arkansas