Descendents Of Displaced Black Community Want Reparations From UGA - Newsonyx
Newsonyx
  • NEWS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORTS
  • LIFESTYLE
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
Newsonyx
  • NEWS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORTS
  • LIFESTYLE
No Result
View All Result
Newsonyx
No Result
View All Result
Home Black History

Descendents Of Displaced Black Community Want Reparations From UGA

The Linnentown Project says the University of Georgia needs to be addressed for erasing their neighborhood

Aziah KamaribyAziah Kamari
December 7, 2021
in Black History
descendents, of, displaced, black, community, want, reparations, from, uga

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images

17
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Over 50 years ago, a Black community in Linnentown, Georgia, was destroyed to expand the University of Georgia. Now, their descendants demand that the university pay them reparations for their ancestors being displaced.

According to Athens-Clarke County documents, the Housing Act of 1949, a federal urban renewal program, played a crucial role in gentrifying the all-Black neighborhood. The legislation sought to transform “blighted” communities to build public housing or private commercial properties in the exact location.

RELATED POSTS

First All-Black Team Successfully Summits Mount Everest

WHO KNEW? Researchers Say Prehistoric Irish People Were Black With Blue Eyes

The documents state that the University System of Georgia secured an “urban renewal contract” with the city to “clear out the total slum area which now exists off Baxter Street.” They then started constructing parking lots and dormitories. As payment for their troubles, the residents of Linnentown received as little as $1,450, around $12,000 today, for their seized properties, according to county documents.

Linnentown was once a thriving, self-sustained Black neighborhood full of plumbers, electricians, construction workers, beauticians and more.

Hattie Thomas Whitehead, a former resident, still shares her many treasured childhood memories in Linnentown.

“We were happy children,” Whitehead said. “It was a close-knit community in the Deep South before integration. We had a play area that the teenagers built for us. We had family Easter egg hunts. We had community baseball games. We played all over the community. Until urban renewal hit.”

In 2019, Whitehead and a group of fellow former residents and descendants of residents created the Linnentown Project to pay tribute to the community’s history and lobby the city to recognize and make amends for the loss. Kelly Girtz, Mayor of Athens, and the Clarke County Commission approved a resolution in support of the project this year.

Related Story: Charleston, South Carolina Has $3 Billion Plan To Sacrifice Black Neighborhood For Freeway

Although steps have been taken to address the displacement, some members of the Linnentown project believe that reparations should come in the form of financial payments.

Bobby Crook, a member of the Linnentown Project, says UGA should do more.

“We want money,” Crook told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “As a child growing up, Linnentown was always a social place. I remember coming home from school, and everybody was crying and carrying on about UGA taking our house.”

The Crooks, who got about $12,000 for their home, were the last family to leave Linnentown in 1966.

The group continues to urge University of Georgia officials to pick up their feet and make amends.

 

Tags: GeorgiaLinnentownreparationsUniversity of Georgia
Share2Tweet1Send

Related Posts

history, mountain, expedition, summit, Full Circle Everest, members, all-Black, team,

First All-Black Team Successfully Summits Mount Everest

byAziah Kamari
May 17, 2022
0

Full Circle Everest is the epitome of "keep rising to the top!" Congratulations!

Prehistoric Irish Black people Ireland RTE documentary The Burren: Heart Of Stone

WHO KNEW? Researchers Say Prehistoric Irish People Were Black With Blue Eyes

byAmber Alexander
May 4, 2022
0

In the documentary, they noted that the early dark-skinned inhabitants of Ireland reportedly lived on the island for nearly 4,000...

100, birthday, cards, Americans, Butler, Victor W. Tuskegee Airmen, Rhode, Island, retired

Last Surviving Tuskegee Airman Turning 100, Requests Birthday Card From The Public

byAziah Kamari
May 4, 2022
0

He promises to read every card he's sent!

Black, woman, Bessie, Coleman, quarter, coin, aviation, pilot

HER-Story: Bessie Coleman, First Black Woman Pilot Will Be Featured On U.S. Quarter

byAziah Kamari
April 10, 2022
0

A well-deserved honor for the pioneer.

Olympics, protest, Tommie Smith, athlete, John Carlos, 1968, film, Hollywood, movies, Ernesto Green, Billy Ray

Upcoming Film ’68 Will Be All About the Black Power Protest at the Olympics in 1968

byTaylor Berry
April 6, 2022
0

The iconic moment will now be memorialized in an upcoming film.

Next Post
LeBron James, Kyle Rittenhouse, trial, white tears, Wisconsin, Kenosha, protesters

Kyle Rittenhouse To LeBron James For Mocking His Tears, 'I Was Really Pissed Off When He Said That'

Barbados, UK, Independence, Slavery Museum

Barbados Building A Slavery Museum Following Its Independence From The UK

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 SNACKABLE MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
  • POLITICS
  • BUSINESS
  • SPORTS
  • LIFESTYLE

© 2021 SNACKABLE MEDIA LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In