I picked cotton back in the late 40s through the 50s. We got $2 to $3 a hundred pounds.
I have no idea where the notion that only black people picked cotton came from. I'm white and my daddy was a sharecropper on a cotton farm until I was 9 years old. After that, we picked cotton for other people. A couple of the people we worked for were black.
@qpwillie You make a good point. I think the concern is that for Blacks as a whole, cotton picking was one of the only options they had. So, it's well-known that Blacks were NOT the only cotton pickers; some Whites had to resort to cotton picking as well. Nevertheless, the whole of the White America had a gamut of jobs to choose from. So, consider this, if Blacks had have had the opportunity to do more, there still would have been Black cotton pickers just considerably less of them.
That was never my experience. In fact, we picked cotton for two different black farm owners. The way it worked was, you rotated picking for several farmers depending on when each had it ready to pick. My dad and older brother also did sawmill and other types of work along with black people. There were rice farms in the area who hired both black and white people.
It has been only in recent years that I started hearing about cotton picking being associated with black people.
@qpwillie I appreciate that some exceptional Black were able to climb above the racially charged circumstance. We both know that life is difficult enough as it is. So, it doesn't help your cause when the odds are stacked against you for reasons beyond your control such as being Black. Needless to say, there have always been and will always be Whites that provide unskilled labor. Nevertheless, no White person wants to live in a society where that is the only choice they have.
@qpwillie That's just not American when you don't have the freedom to aspire to be more than you are to begin with. The only thing that should stand in a man's way in life is himself and his limitations. Interesting enough, when White men and Black men finished picking cotton together, the White man could eat where he could afford and the Black man could only eat where he was accepted.
@qpwillie Of course, financially some Whites were no better off than Blacks - legally able to move freely but too broke to do so... Opportunities for Blacks and Whites have definitely improved since those times.
All I wanted to do is set the record straight. There is so much BS being taught about those times for political purposes and I can't see how misinformation could possibly be beneficial to society.
The man in the video was mistaken about a couple of things. ALL cotton had to go through the gin in order to be marketable. "Pulling" or "stripping" cotton was a last resort to finish getting a late crop in on time. It wasn't regional; it was a decision made by the farmer.
In the area where I was raised, several of the black families owned family farms. When the big rice farmers came buying up the land, they had simply refused to sell.
@qpwillie Thank you for your response. I can appreciate your first hand knowledge and experience. At the end of the day, whatever the cotton-picking arrangements were at the time, it was NOT the direct fault of the White cotton picker working beside the Black cotton picker. Cotton made a great deal of money for a few and it provided a steady but small of income for the hard working majority. By the way, the cotton picker's errors about pulled cotton does not surprise me. He's bottom man.
There was a lot of money made but not at the farmers level. Most of those farm owners were just as poor as we were. The days of the old antebellum cotton plantations were long gone.
You can't hardly make enough ... You hear him Carmelo, While you and you're buddies Spending money running back and forth like some slaves that y'all are while billy goes to pursued their career as Lawyers, and Doctors, and our people still want to play basketball, and sports in the slave mentality. That is a shame
This video wasn't recorded not long ago, And this man done forgot how old he is 75,80, or more that's a shame how he don't even know how old he is . And this interviewers probably didn't even loose any sleep to know who pull cotton for them , so they could look sharp for T.V. You see Carmelo , while YOU and you're buddies think y'all look cute for T.V. this are the folks picking up cotton for the arm pantie hose you wear on you're arms and legs to look cute. We still living in them times
For all you niggers out there, this is how its done
Annihilator265 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
Annihilator265 3 weeks ago
This man is the salt of the earth. Did you see how scarred up his hands were?
scorpioxf 1 month ago
You can tell that man is a good man :)
chanchiem 4 months ago
MR.Howard History!!!
100Predators 4 months ago
Very Cool Blog! If you, or any of your readers are looking for cleaned, whole, cotton bolls for floral arrangements or crafs, check us out!
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FloralCotton 5 months ago
Picking cotton with bare hands? Now that's badass!
artman40 5 months ago
What a awesome old man with a humbling life.
Fuck I wish we could be more like that rather than throwin each other under the bus
sioux345t 6 months ago
Seems like a really nice guy. I can't help but feel the racial connotations associated with a black man picking cotton. :(
fvgdfbdokd 8 months ago
I picked cotton back in the late 40s through the 50s. We got $2 to $3 a hundred pounds.
I have no idea where the notion that only black people picked cotton came from. I'm white and my daddy was a sharecropper on a cotton farm until I was 9 years old. After that, we picked cotton for other people. A couple of the people we worked for were black.
qpwillie 8 months ago
@qpwillie You make a good point. I think the concern is that for Blacks as a whole, cotton picking was one of the only options they had. So, it's well-known that Blacks were NOT the only cotton pickers; some Whites had to resort to cotton picking as well. Nevertheless, the whole of the White America had a gamut of jobs to choose from. So, consider this, if Blacks had have had the opportunity to do more, there still would have been Black cotton pickers just considerably less of them.
kosmopolitisch 8 months ago
@kosmopolitisch
That was never my experience. In fact, we picked cotton for two different black farm owners. The way it worked was, you rotated picking for several farmers depending on when each had it ready to pick. My dad and older brother also did sawmill and other types of work along with black people. There were rice farms in the area who hired both black and white people.
It has been only in recent years that I started hearing about cotton picking being associated with black people.
qpwillie 8 months ago
@qpwillie I appreciate that some exceptional Black were able to climb above the racially charged circumstance. We both know that life is difficult enough as it is. So, it doesn't help your cause when the odds are stacked against you for reasons beyond your control such as being Black. Needless to say, there have always been and will always be Whites that provide unskilled labor. Nevertheless, no White person wants to live in a society where that is the only choice they have.
kosmopolitisch 8 months ago
@qpwillie That's just not American when you don't have the freedom to aspire to be more than you are to begin with. The only thing that should stand in a man's way in life is himself and his limitations. Interesting enough, when White men and Black men finished picking cotton together, the White man could eat where he could afford and the Black man could only eat where he was accepted.
kosmopolitisch 8 months ago
@qpwillie Of course, financially some Whites were no better off than Blacks - legally able to move freely but too broke to do so... Opportunities for Blacks and Whites have definitely improved since those times.
kosmopolitisch 8 months ago
@kosmopolitisch
All I wanted to do is set the record straight. There is so much BS being taught about those times for political purposes and I can't see how misinformation could possibly be beneficial to society.
The man in the video was mistaken about a couple of things. ALL cotton had to go through the gin in order to be marketable. "Pulling" or "stripping" cotton was a last resort to finish getting a late crop in on time. It wasn't regional; it was a decision made by the farmer.
qpwillie 8 months ago
@kosmopolitisch
"Pulled/stripped" cotton was worth much less per pound because it took more ginning and the cotton to waste ratio was much lower.
qpwillie 8 months ago
@kosmopolitisch
In the area where I was raised, several of the black families owned family farms. When the big rice farmers came buying up the land, they had simply refused to sell.
qpwillie 8 months ago
@qpwillie Thank you for your response. I can appreciate your first hand knowledge and experience. At the end of the day, whatever the cotton-picking arrangements were at the time, it was NOT the direct fault of the White cotton picker working beside the Black cotton picker. Cotton made a great deal of money for a few and it provided a steady but small of income for the hard working majority. By the way, the cotton picker's errors about pulled cotton does not surprise me. He's bottom man.
kosmopolitisch 7 months ago
@kosmopolitisch
LOL! I guess that's what we were; the bottom man.
There was a lot of money made but not at the farmers level. Most of those farm owners were just as poor as we were. The days of the old antebellum cotton plantations were long gone.
qpwillie 7 months ago
King
Kotton
Klub
KevinBrennanSucks 8 months ago
My Future Job :)
Black Power
Keep The KKK Alive.
Peace Soul Brothers
KevinBrennanSucks 8 months ago
FUCK YEAH
KevinBrennanSucks 8 months ago
You can't hardly make enough ... You hear him Carmelo, While you and you're buddies Spending money running back and forth like some slaves that y'all are while billy goes to pursued their career as Lawyers, and Doctors, and our people still want to play basketball, and sports in the slave mentality. That is a shame
ohkho1 1 year ago
This video wasn't recorded not long ago, And this man done forgot how old he is 75,80, or more that's a shame how he don't even know how old he is . And this interviewers probably didn't even loose any sleep to know who pull cotton for them , so they could look sharp for T.V. You see Carmelo , while YOU and you're buddies think y'all look cute for T.V. this are the folks picking up cotton for the arm pantie hose you wear on you're arms and legs to look cute. We still living in them times
ohkho1 1 year ago
God bless this man , he just taught me how to pick cotton..
tappanserbgirl 1 year ago
john deere makes a good cotton picker nowdays and doesn't complain about it
race88100 1 year ago
i told a black guy in my school to pick my cotton oh men it didnt end well
felixcruzazul 1 year ago
white people harvest and pick cotton now these days
pickyoafrodaddy 1 year ago
always wanted to know how to pick that pesky cotton
z0mby 1 year ago
how soon some forget!!
lisa3393 1 year ago
lol thats why black ppl do it.
thebeatlefreak9 1 year ago
wow
thankyou for posting that
mercurea1 1 year ago
Look at those fuckin' hands. Jesus.
depletable 1 year ago
first!!!!!!!! haha owned
HarrySackthatsme 1 year ago