The Future Farmers of America (FFA), the largest student-led farm group in the country, is facing blowback over racist memes posted by a former member of its leadership, highlighting FFA’s long history of racism and inequity. The organization has over 700,000 members across the nation, with white members making up nearly 70 percent of the ranks. In the wake of this year’s national uprising in defense of Black lives, FFA issued a statement that has since been deleted that Xavier Morgan, a Black former member, found disturbing and ambiguous. The disparity of representation in FFA mirrors the country’s agricultural industry where roughly 95 percent of farmers are white, yet the agricultural workforce is largely made up of people of color. For the Food & Environment Reporting Network, Leah Douglas reports how Black alumni are seeking change within the homogeneous organization.
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