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AP

Developers have Black families fighting to maintain property and history

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Carolina Coast Black Landowners

Fred Smalls, 67, left, and his brother Elijah Smalls Jr., 80, pose for a portrait July 27 on their family's property in Phillips Community near Mount Pleasant, S.C.

PHILLIPS COMMUNITY, S.C. � The Rev. Elijah Smalls Jr. once grew okra, butter beans and other vegetables in the neighborhood where his family has lived near the South Carolina coast since survivors of slavery bought patches of their plantation after the Civil War.

Then came half-a-million-dollar homes in a nearby subdivision, overwhelming the drainage system. Runoff meant for sewers now pools in the 80-year-old veteran's backyard, making gardening impossible.

Carolina Coast Black Landowners

Josephine Wright stands July 18 between her home and an orange safety fence that borders a construction site in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Carolina Coast Black Landowners

Queen Davis sits on the truck of a live oak tree overlooking a marsh July 18, 2023, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. She faces the prospect of losing about 11 acres after a June judicial order that would place a portion on the market for $7 million.





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