Today, Black Americans own less than 1% of rural land. This is not for lack of wanting. But rather a reflection of the barriers that stand in the way of acquiring land and keeping deeds in hand. Take, for instance, the efforts of the Sandersville Railroad Company. They're trying to force a Black family to relinquish their land. Blaine Smith and his siblings inherited 600 acres in the 1920s. According to reporting in Capital B, they grew up farming, fishing, and hunting on this land. Their family fed generations, cultivating "cotton, fruits, vegetables, timber." They also raised livestock, such as "pigs, chickens, and cows." Owning the land even helped provide educational opportunities for some family members. Today, Blaine lives on the land with his wife, Diane Smith. Other family members also lived there, including his brother, Mark Smith, and his wife, Janet Paige Smith. Their cousin, Marvin Smith Jr., his wife, Patricia Smith, and their son also call the land home. Yet, they find themselves in a battle to keep it.
So far, the courts have failed to protect the Black family from losing land they've owned for over a century. A Fulton County Superior Court Judge, Craig L. Schall, ruled in favor of the railroad company. This decision granted them the authority to confiscate portions of the land and build a 4.5-mile rail line. This decision was disappointing not only for the Smith family but also for the surrounding community. This inspired the creation of an organization, "No Railroads in Our Community Coalition." Along with the Southern Poverty Law Center, they're fighting back. According to their petition, other "homes near the proposed route" could be affected. The expansion would introduce "unwanted and hazardous noise, air pollution, and vibrations." A nearby mining operation, the Handson Quarry, already emits toxins. Thus, they argue, "the new spur will only compound the negative environmental impacts." And therefore diminish the quality of life for residents. Not to mention diminish property values. Sadly, the railroad company is pushing forward despite the health risks. And the injustice of Black land theft.
The Smith family hasn't accepted defeat. They will continue to fight against the railroad company's efforts. Blaine said, "We've had to fight to keep this land. It's always somebody coming in trying to bamboozle you out of it." "There's people trying to come hunt on it and trespass on it. It's gonna be easier for them to do that if we put a railroad through the middle of it…." He's concerned land seizure would obscure the line between public and private property. Yet, those in positions of power seem unwilling to consider his perspective that the owners do not want to sell the land. Or that the broader community is concerned about the environmental impact. This eminent domain case attempts to justify robbing this family of their land. Company reps argue the railroad must cross through at this point. Yet, it's not a coincidence interstates and railroads often rip through black communities. This is the legacy of racial redlining. Their story reminds us that dispossession is not only a past injustice. Black families who own land must apply due diligence to keep the deed in their hands. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, M.D. found between "1949 and 1973 … 2,532 projects were carried out in 992 cities." Together, "they displaced one million people, two-thirds of them African American." When the dust settled, Black people were "five times more likely to be displaced."
Author and activist Brea Baker wrote about this injustice in her book Rooted. "This country has always been happy to have Black people working the land but never owning it,” she wrote. Research suggests this is more than a historical problem. For instance, a 2020 study found Black homeownership was at its lowest point since 1968. Sociology professor Jacob Rugh noted, "Neither education, income, nor credit explains this disparity." Many believe that hard work can overcome anything, even generations of racial discrimination. However," to move forward economically depends heavily on both the wealth of one's parents and their grandparents." That explains why Black college graduates were less likely to own homes than white Americans without a high school diploma.
Throughout the 20th century, Black farmers lost 98% of their land, 12 million acres. This shift was not the result of negligence but rather the cumulative impact of racism. The Equal Justice Initiative noted, "mass dispossession did not require a central organizing force or a grand conspiracy." Instead," thousands of individual decisions by White people, enabled or motivated by greed, racism, existing laws, and market forces, all pushed in a single direction." Many American adults are aware of the harm racial redlining causes. But, if you're unfamiliar with it, this practice began during the 1930s. The Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) published maps that ranked communities. They classified mostly White communities as "green," representing the "best" investment. Or "blue," described as "still desirable." European immigrants were mostly confined to "yellow" areas in decline. While most Black people lived in areas marked "red," it was considered "hazardous." Racial redlining perpetuated racialized poverty that persists in the modern era. And yet, this is but one strategy used to deprive Black people of generational wealth.
As Tkeisa Nesbitt explained in a scholarly article, “white farmers and landowners developed tax and property law schemes" to "strip African Americans of their land," Journalist Brian Barth described common methods they employed. One such example would be the use of "heirs’ property." It may be due to "distrust in the legal system" or" lack of access to legal resources." However, Black people are far less likely to use a will to transfer property. This means their property is split among all known descendants. Without "first identifying and tracking down every heir" and" gaining their consent," the property may be vulnerable. Those with heirs" property may sell the part they own. Yet, this partition sale opens the door for a non-hereditary owner to enter. They can exploit the split ownership to" "obtain the entire property, often below market rates." This means that if one family member decides to sell, the others risk losing their land. And sometimes, they are not even" "notified of the sale until they are served an eviction notice." Lastly, sales taxes are weaponized. Those on a fixed income may be unable to afford property taxes, especially as they are variable. Then, "the county has the right to put the property on the auction block — a common way for developers to access land from families who don't want to sell."
Land ownership is the most common way that families pass on generational wealth. And yet, in America, racism is a pre-existing condition. One that places Black people at a disadvantage. As the group with the least wealth, they have less access to opportunities to buy or inherit property. Hopefully, the Smith family manages to keep their property. Because a Black family losing land to a railroad company owned by White people for 130 years is an injustice, such an event disrespects the spirit of inheritance laws. They are the descendants of enslaved people who, once free, worked hard and purchased property. Their family managed to hold onto this land despite the violence and vitriol of Jim Crow. They have no choice but to continue this battle to keep their land. They're appealing to the Georgia Supreme Court. And raising awareness in their community of dispossession efforts. Diane Smith said, "We're to fight till we can't anymore." As her "grandmother used to say, 'no stone unturned,' so you keep unturning and unturning.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of Dr. Allison Gaines' work on Medium.