ABSTRACT
Rural communities across the United States share many characteristics related to population density and proximity to urban centers. Rural communities may also be located in areas with a legacy of inequity such as the South or Appalachia or may have high concentrations of Native people or immigrants. Rural communities, like urban communities, have particular challenges and affordances that can be traced to complex interactions among historical, political, economic, and social influences. Important regional differences are collapsed into a shared history of early land ownership because that particular history has some power to explain the current challenges and strengths and demographics of rural communities today. Inspirational narratives about freedom, adventure, and opportunity obscure a foundational history of brutality and exploitation that has explanatory powers for contemporary injustices, for Native people and African Americans, and for people living in the rural communities.
