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Friend,
Willie Williams’ roots run deep in the sandy soil of Point Clear, Alabama.
“I’m 62, and that land was my grandmother’s,” Williams said of his property on Confederate Rest Road. “It probably came to her from her mother. It was passed down to my daddy, and when I am gone it will probably go to my niece.”
The question facing him is what his heirs will be able to do with the land in this small, coastal town that stretches along Mobile Bay. Williams and other Black property owners in the southwestern portion of Baldwin County are facing a renewed attempt to apply zoning and development standards on property that has existed, largely without any restrictions, in the unincorporated areas of the county.
An election held in December 2020 seemingly approved those standards, creating Zoning District 19. However, at least two lawsuits have been filed contesting the election on a variety of grounds, from the lack of notification about the vote, to tactics used to suppress Black voter turnout, to gerrymandering of the zoning district to target Black homeowners.
The result is an impending legal battle involving a mix of voting rights and land use issues that will shape the future of the Black community in this area – an enclave that has been spared the high-end home construction Williams has watched spread along the Alabama coast.
Overall, the situation in Baldwin County illustrates an important feature of our electoral system, according to Melvina Ford, interim chief legal officer for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is not involved in either lawsuit.
“Elections impact every facet of our lives – including how and whether we continue to live on land we own,” she said. “All elections must be fair, equal and accessible. The December 2020 zoning election appeared calculated to deter and diminish Black voter participation and, ultimately, to make it harder for Black people to call Point Clear home.”
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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