Planning for Exploitation: The Plight of Black Coastal Landowners and Coastal Areas in the Sunbelt South

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Preston Burns
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1 Planning for Exploitation: The Plight of Black Coastal Landowners and Coastal Areas in the Sunbelt South Andrew Kahrl Assistant Professor Department of History Marquette University Photo Credits: (upper left) Hampton University Archives; (upper right) Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines; (lower center)

Marquette University Photo Credits: (upper left) Hampton University Archives; (upper

2 Decline of Black-Owned Land in the South Millions of Acres Full and Part Owners Source: U.S. Department of Commence, 1969 Census of Agricultture; Black Economic Research Center, Only Six Million Acres: The Decline of Black-Owned Lan din the Rural South (1973); and Torn from the Land, Associated Press (2001).

4 Total Acres Owned by Robert Bruce Freeman Upon His Death in 1902: approx. 5,000

5 Heirs Property Ownership 1. How It Works a. Landowner Dies Intestate 1. Title to Land Vacated b. Heirs Inherit Undivided Shares 1. Become Tenants-in-Common c. No Right of Survivorship 1. Number of Persons Claiming a Share in the Land Multiplies Over Time

Heirs Inherit Undivided Shares 1. Become Tenants-in-Common c.

6 Freeman Beach, 1951 Frank C. Hill Collection, Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, Wilmington, N.C.

7 Frank C. Hill Collection, Cape Fear Museum of History and Science, Wilmington, N.C.

9 Owen J. Furuseth and Sallie M. Ives, Community Response to Coastal Erosion Hazard, Southeastern Geographer, 24 (May 1984), 48.

10 Hurricane Hazel, 1954

11 State Black Percentage of Total Farm Population FmHA Loans in FY 1974 Percentage of FmHA Loans Given to Blacks Percentage of Total Loan Dollars Given to Black Borrowers Average Dollar Amount of Loans to White Borrowers Average Dollar Amount of Loans to Black Borrowers Alabama ,963 15,214 Arkansas ,473 12,461 Florida ,406 6,666 Georgia ,414 24,000 Louisiana ,473 24,000 Mississippi ,277 13,687 North Carolina ,030 9,075 South Carolina ,978 13,200 Tennessee ,056 16,833 Texas ,772 24,222 Virginia ,427 17,666 Emergency Land Fund, Implications for Black Land Loss: Federal Financing for Black Rural Development, A Report on Minority Credit Barriers in Eleven Southern States, (1974), 4.

8 5.6 3.8 36,473 24,000 Mississippi 42.8 7.7 4.2 26,277 13,687 North Carolina 23.3 11.7 5.0 23,030 9,075 South Carolina 39.6 17.9 9.3 27,978 13,200 Tennessee 7.2 1.7 1.0 26,056 16,833 Texas 3.9 1.8 1.4 29,772 24,222 Virginia 19 6.

12 2. Problems with Heirs Property Ownership a. No Clear Title 1. Lack of Access to Credit 2. Unable to Improve or Build Equity 3. Difficult to Adapt to/capitalize on Changes in Local Economy and Real Estate Markets 3. Problems with Restoring Title a. Partition-in-Kind b. Partition Sale 1. Land Auctioned to Highest Bidder, Heirs Receive Their Cut, Minus Court and Lawyers Fees

Difficult to Adapt to/capitalize on Changes in Local Economy and Real Estate Markets 3.

15 4. Conditions Ripe for Predatory Market a. Shareholders Can Only Claim their Share by Clearing Title via Partition b. Absentee Shareholders Have Equal Standing with Resident Shareholders d. Possession of a Single Share is Sufficient to Force a Partitioning of Land

16 The Roads Leading to a Partition Sale a. Lawyers: encourage families in dispute to resolve through partitioning b. Judges: deem partition-in-kind impractical, order sale c. Predatory Lenders: acquire heirs property owner s shares as payment for debt d. Speculators: locate distant relative with shares and offer to buy 1. Share Hunters

Judges: deem partition-in-kind impractical, order sale c.

17 Decline of Black-Owned Land in the South Millions of Acres Roughly 1/2 of 4.8 Million Acres Lost between 1969 and 2001 due to Partition Sales Full and Part Owners Source: U.S. Department of Commence, 1969 Census of Agricultture; Black Economic Research Center, Only Six Million Acres: The Decline of Black-Owned Lan din the Rural South (1973); and Torn from the Land, Associated Press (2001).

18 Losing the Land Source: Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines Aerial View of Carolina Beach Inlet, 2007

19 We have given up on trying to protect the shrimp and the crab because we ha[ve] become the new endangered species. [W]e don t have too much time to protect oysters, fish and crab. --Emory Campbell, Hilton Head, SC (1982)

21 Clearing a Path for Development: The Convenience of the Tax Lien Virginia Beach, Virginia Source: Jason Pratt (Wikipedia Commons)

22 Tidewater Virginia: The Cradle of Black Landownership in Early 20th Century South Sources: Rand, McNally & Co.'s New Business Atlas Map of Virginia, 1889 (David Rumsey Historical Map Collection); Newport News, Virginia, 1942, USDA, Farm Security Administration

23 Source: Virginia Beach Sun News, Dec. 7, 1961

24 X--Location of African American Villages

25 Black Landownership in City of Virginia Beach 1800 Numbers of Acres Full Owner Part Owner Source: BERC, Only 6 Million Acres, W-5.

26 They re Coming for the Land Virginia Beach Beacon, April 11, 1982

27 Tax Lien--Investment Strategy and Mechanism of Displacement 1. How It Works a. Lien Placed on Property After Non-Payment of Taxes b. Liens Auctioned at Upcoming County Tax Sale c. County Only Required to Notify Delinquent Taxpayer of Impending Tax Sale via Local Newspaper Announcement 2. Purchaser of Tax Liens a. In Essence, Paying Someone Else s Tax Bill b. Debtor Now In Debt to Lien Holder 1. Back Taxes Plus Interest Plus Fees c. Property Owner Has Up to Two Years to Settle Debts 1. After Two Years, If Debt Unsettled, Lien Holder Claims Title to Land d. The Interest Is the Interest

29 Source: Google Maps

30 The Past as Prologue The Tax Lien as Modern-Day Investment Strategy Source: Lagan Sebert, Baltimore Sun

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