Former residents of a Black neighborhood on the outskirts of the University of Georgia (UGA) campus, whose land was taken through eminent domain, are now seeking redress from the school according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Linnentown was a Black neighborhood until the 1960s when the city of Athens, where UGA is located, claimed eminent domain, the right of a government to expropriate private property for public use, to buy 22 acres using federal money, and sold the property to the state board of regents.
Linnentown residents were forced out, and the land was used for three dormitories on UGA’s campus according to the report.
A group of six former Linnentown residents begin the project and got a small victory in February when the Athens-Clarke County Commission unanimously supported a sweeping resolution calling the incident “an act of institutionalized white racism and terrorism.”
The commission is establishing the Linnentown Justice and Memory committee, which is working on a Black history center. Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz apologized for Linnentown’s destruction and said the resolution represents “commitment to creating better lives for Black Athenians.”
Whitehead said around 40 Black families lived in Linnentown, and the majority of its Black residents owned their homes.
State law prohibits monetary reparations to former Linnentown residents using state or local money, however, the Linnentown project is now putting pressure on state legislators to change the law. The project has written letters to both Georgia Sens. Raphael Warnockand Jon Ossoff asking for help.
Since the resolution in February, the former Linnentown residents have been waiting for more but have yet hear anything from the university.
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