 It is a difficult history that of the black southern farmer and when times are trying for all American farmers, they are even more trying for black farmers. The difficulty for me is that there's not the same technical support, monetary support that you might see with white farmers. Jermaine Jenkins operates an urban farm in North Charleston, South Carolina. There was like 14% black farmers many years ago . According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, black farmers own just a half a percent of America's farmland while 95% of American farmers are white. We know what the history of the Department of Agriculture has been when it comes to farmers and the differentials that are made when it comes to black farmers. House majority whip James Clyburn represents South Carolina in Congress. He is concerned about subsidies from the Trump administration. The number that I've seen is that 99.4% is what it's going to white farmers as opposed to black farmers. The state of South Carolina says that they are aware of this disparity. That's something that General Assembly has asked us to look at and that's something that we're definitely working on. This inequality cannot be ignored. Today black farmers in the south tend to land which many of their ancestors were forced to farm as slaves. We don't plant cotton on John's Island or more. No tobacco on John's Island or more but we still plant all fresh local produce. Joseph Fields farms land on Johns Island, South Carolina that his grandparents farmed and ultimately purchased in the 1800s. My grandparents they were farmers. They were on the farm and they had to take boats to get to Charleston. At that time they didn't have no bridges. So tell me the story of this land. How did your grandparents get the money to afford this? At that time she was breastfeeding all the people kids across the street selling breast milk to them in order to gain money. And she used that money to buy this land? Yes, back then back in 1800s you got to do what you have to do and that's what she did. Farming has never been simple for black southerners and one man who grew up on a farm in Alabama is scared. It's so difficult for farmers to survive. Small farmers, medium sized farms to survive. And I don't quite understand why. Like John Lewis, Joseph Fields loved farming from an early age. We had to go to the market downtown to the market street early in the morning with my daddy. As a love fellow. Today he's still planting beans and planting corn and watching things grow, but he has changed with the times. And that was organic for the last 10 years. Similarly with her urban farm it's hard to say where your crops can fail, so you need to have another way to bring in resources for Jenkins. That means encouraging future farmers. So we teach. We're going to have events here. We want to do something with value added products, but keeping up traditions even those born out of ugliness is important for these farmers. It's this rich history of West African secluded islands so they kept their culture from enslaved times till today. The Gullah were West Africans who were settled mostly on outer islands in the south to work the plantations. Gullah is the way things is here. We do our part to kind of make those connections between the Gullah community, like these foods that we enjoy like okra in the summertime. And perhaps it's the idea of preserving that heritage that makes these farmers better. I hope my kids and my grandkids take up what I got here going on the farm. It's hard work, but something you need to love to do. Michael Shure, I-24 News, Johns Island, South Carolina.