Urban gardening: yet another place where skin color matters

“Girl, is this yours?” asked the security guard. The tone was inquisitive, the body language hostile, the familiarity stinging. You may have thought that I was apprehended while shoplifting.

Reality is I had been caught gardening while Black in Denver. I had just stepped into the community garden near my West City Park apartment to check on my nearly 3- month- old crops. After what felt just like minutes, the guard appeared out of nowhere and asked if the bed of vegetables I was tending to was mine. Although the community garden program I took part in is administered by a local organization seeking to cultivate community in urban spaces, the plot belongs to Saint Joseph hospital and is located nearby. The guard was on patrolling duty for the hospital.

Gardening was the last stage in my Coloradan conversion. A Black woman born and raised in Abidjan, West Africa, I could not understand the appeal of strenuous exercise in the sun. Friends teased me about my coquettish ways, including donning delicate earrings while hiking. My immigrant father made fun of my habit of taking too many showers during hot summer months; after all, this was no longer Africa. My fastidious hygiene rituals meant that I drew the line at camping because hot showers were not always available.

Knowing this about me, I was the first surprised to find out how much I enjoyed dirt. That is planting seeds, nurturing them, and watching them grow. I took to gardening religiously, an activity that has provided immense solace and healing during COVID. My pandemic related anxiety melts during the hours spent tending to the plot I shared with a friend.

That is until that Wednesday morning at 10: 30 a. m. That is until the security guard began to interrogate me. My carelessness evaporated and the usual reflexes I have adopted to survive U. S. antiBlack racism kicked in. Almost subconsciously, I began devising a new gardening schedule that would take place only during day hours to protect me. I also thought of dressing up nicely to dig up roots. But then, I stopped in my tracks; I was already doing these things.

Pressed further, the security guard hinted at vague criminal activity and explained how some of the neighboring residents had complained about the gardeners. What I knew was that some of the other gardeners were Black and Brown, and the community garden was near Whittier and Five Points, historically Black neighborhoods that had been gentrified. This gentrification contributes to the expansion of “white space” in the city and the policing of Black bodies in mundane practices like gardening. The expansion of white space affects needed healing spaces during COVID, like community gardens.

A recent New York Times piece was titled “Gardening made me happier. It will for you too.”

Not so fast. The COVID narrative about gardening needs to be nuanced. Consider the 2017- 2018 saga of a Black man in Detroit. He started an urban farm in his neighborhood, prompting repeated harassment by three white women. The women called the police “a dozen of times” to make serious false claims against him, including allegations about him being a sex offender. The gardener was arrested and went to court. As a result, he lost sources of employment and income during that time period.

Statistics show that the median household income for Black people is about $ 44,000 compared to almost $ 67,000 for all white groups in Colorado. In addition, Black people have been disproportionately affected by unemployment during COVID. Taken together, a lower household income and a lack of access to employercovered health benefits can limit access to mental health resources, including therapy. Furthermore, the historical mistrust of medical institutions due to racism and the lack of Black therapists further curb access to mental health resources.

In this regard, community gardens may provide an informal healing modality to Black people, a particularly vulnerable group during COVID. To be clear, I am not advocating for gardening as a cure- all that would replace therapy and medication. Rather, studies suggest that gardening has therapeutic effects and lessens stress, anxiety, and depression. For these reasons, we need not only provide access to urban gardens to Black people but also guarantee that they are protected from community surveillance and police harassment.

In the end, I complained to the organization in charge of administering the community gardening program. They took me seriously and are following up with the hospital and their security company. I continue to garden but the incident has dampened my enthusiasm. This is also how racism works; it robs us of safety and joy.