In Mississippi's Mound Bayou, which once stood as a proud symbol of African American self-governance, unemployment among African American residents is rising. White South African farmers play local roles Under US visa programs, people often earn more than locals.
These new workers are entering H-2A Agricultural Visa ProgramFor which legally farm owners have to prove that there is no local labor available before recruiting abroad.
For years, Mexican workers dominated these positions. But with the US government dramatically tightening immigration policies, Mexican workers have stopped coming en masse, creating job vacancies that South Africans have rushed to fill. According to South African agricultural organizations, about 25,000 South Africans came to work on American farms during the 2024-2025 agricultural season alone.
US State Department data shows that between 2011 and 2024, the number of South African agricultural workers in the United States increased by 1,300 percent, far more than any other nationality.
Farm owners argue that they are unable to find suitable local labour. But for the generations of African American families who have farmed this land for centuries, the situation is far more troubling. Many see this as a form of racism that is actively hurting the state's economy.
“I see it around here, when I go to Walmart I see these people. They're usually wearing short pants and they talk to each other in African languages. It doesn't make sense to me economically. If you bring people from another country to work on your farm and you're paying them more, that means it's costing them more out of your pocket. A lot of the things that white supremacy does make sense economically from a racial perspective. does not hold,” said director Herman Johnson Jr. Mound Bayou Museum of African American Culture and History.
In 1887, freed slaves built this small town with their own hands on the marshy lands of the Mississippi Delta. At its peak, black farm workers here owned and farmed their own land, making it a powerful symbol of African American self-governance in the United States.
In this land, the issue of race has never really gone away. From the plantation era to the present day, skin color has always been an inevitable variable.
“What you're doing is actually shutting down productivity, because everybody is productive, everybody has creativity. Until Mississippians as a whole realize how much racism hurts them, Mississippi will always be one of the last-rate states in the country,” the director said.
This article originally appeared on the Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Historic black farming hub hit as South Africans take MS farm jobs