“That would make a difference,” she said. “It wouldn’t make up for 400 years of domination, oppression and discrimination, but certainly it would increase the percentage of Blacks involved in farming.”
For the Stepp family and others, something else contributed to the end of their time as Black farmers: assimilation.
After Attie Stepp died, Jeff Schimek, Cheryl Peterson and Brian Stepp, all of whom identify as white, started researching the small cemetery where their grandfather is buried, just down the road from the melon stand . They learned that generations ago, the white residents of Fayette wouldn’t allow the Black farm families to bury their deceased in the town cemetery. A land-owning family outside town allowed them to use two acres.
“They donated the land there to be a cemetery for people that couldn’t be buried in town,” Schimek said, “and that’s why that is a Black cemetery.”
But the cousins say their grandfather didn’t talk much about his ancestry. Growing up, they didn’t know about his African American roots.
“There was quite a bit more talk about our Indian heritage than there was about being Black,” Schimek said. As an adult, Schimek talked with a man who also has relatives buried in the small cemetery outside town.
“He said, ‘Well, some members of the community just wanted to act as white as they could and assimilate into the whites as best they could,’ and he says, ‘Your grandad was that way,’” Schimek recalled. And he remembers feeling a little discomfited by the remarks, but doesn’t dispute them. He says Stepp’s children married lighter-skinned partners.
Peterson and Brian Stepp were among the three grandchildren who spent the most time farming with their grandfather. The others, they say, raced to town as quickly as they could.
“I’m sure Grandpa would have loved if one of us took over the business,” Peterson said, “but the business is a risky one to begin with, and you have to put up a lot of money to start.”
Brian Stepp began working for his grandfather full time at the age of 16, but didn’t follow through on his advice.
