{"id":18253,"date":"2026-01-15T18:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=18253"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T18:44:16","slug":"when-its-darkness-on-the-delta-how-americas-richest-soil-became-its-poorest-land-by-w-ralph-eubanks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/15\/when-its-darkness-on-the-delta-how-americas-richest-soil-became-its-poorest-land-by-w-ralph-eubanks\/","title":{"rendered":"When It\u2019s Darkness on the Delta: How America\u2019s Richest Soil Became its Poorest Land by W. Ralph Eubanks"},"content":{"rendered":"

c.2025, Beacon Press\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em>
\n$30.00\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/em>
\n256 pages<\/em><\/p>\n

By Terri Schlichenmeyer<\/em>
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

Where you from?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s perhaps one of the first questions somebody might ask you because the answer tells them a lot. Where did you grow up, where do you live now, what customs do you follow? Who are your people? Where are you from and, as in the new book, When It\u2019s Darkness on the Delta<\/em> by W. Ralph Eubanks, <\/strong>what is that place like now?<\/p>\n

When President Lyndon Johnson launched his War on Poverty in 1964, \u201cthe public face of [it]\u2026 was white\u201d and Appalachian. \u201cBlack poverty in the Mississippi Delta mirrored\u201d that which poor white Appalachians experienced, says Eubanks, but policymakers\u2019 race influenced American perceptions of the \u201cwar\u201d and, as often happens, little heed was paid to the Delta.<\/p>\n

With just over 7,100 square miles of land bordered by bluffs and river, the Delta \u201cwas firmly in the hands of the Choctaw Nation\u201d in 1817, when Mississippi became a state. As settlers arrived, its soil became known for its fertility in growing crops, especially cotton. After Emancipation and Black flight to urban areas, Chinese and Italian sharecroppers were hired to work the land, but they didn\u2019t stay; Black sharecroppers did, and during the Great Depression, Herbert Hoover promised to \u201cdivide the land of bankrupt planters into small Black-owned farms if he won the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did win, but he went back on his word. Instead, Franklin Roosevelt\u2019s \u201cNew Deal\u201d fulfilled Hoover\u2019s promise, ultimately creating Mileston Plantation, the state\u2019s only \u201cresettlement community\u201d on which 110 Black families moved and farmed until the Great Depression hit full-force and racism again became a factor in the then-present and future of the Delta.<\/p>\n

On Providence Farm \u2013 founded by white \u201ctheologians and Christian missionaries\u201d some 40 miles from where Emmett Till was murdered \u2013 a desegregated hospital was established. White leaders helped Black farm workers unionize. The Box Project to combat hunger came from the Delta, and so did the blues. Everything changed there, and nothing has.<\/p>\n

Poverty, says Eubanks, was born and still lies \u201cburied deep in the Delta\u2019s soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, there\u2019s beauty, as evidenced in author W. Ralph Eubanks\u2019 words, his memories, and the stories he tells. Every sentence in this book is fat with meaning and his love of the land he grew up near \u2013 but that can be a trap. Just know that you can\u2019t race through When It\u2019s Darkness on the Delta<\/em>. No, it\u2019s going to demand your time and your full attention.<\/p>\n

Offer it, and you\u2019ll see a wide, but microcosmic, view of racism and decay. Eubanks walked the Delta\u2019s fields, looking for detritus of former farms; he drove past what\u2019s left of homes and storefronts on a tour through his memories. He reveals Mississippi\u2019s Delta through a historical lens and as somewhere ripe for the future, both of which will make readers understand why this biography of place is important reading.<\/p>\n

Just don\u2019t rush it. Savor what you\u2019ll find inside this book, and let yourself think about it. When It\u2019s Darkness on the Delta,<\/em> is worthwhile, no matter where you from.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

c.2025, Beacon Press\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 $30.00\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 256 pages By Terri Schlichenmeyer The Truth Contributor Where you from? That\u2019s perhaps one of the first questions somebody might ask you because the answer tells them a lot. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[20],"class_list":["post-18253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book_review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18256,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18253\/revisions\/18256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18253"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=18253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}