Historic Black Neighborhood Threatened with Eminent Domain
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- Опубликовано: 31 окт 2023
- Family homes that have been handed down generations, nestled among century-old oak trees. A charming, renovated two-story house on the National Register of Historic Places. Church property, donated by parishioners, that serves as the gathering place for the community.
ij.org/case/ocean-springs-bli...
What do these places have in common? All of them are part of a “slum” or “blighted area”-at least, that is, according to the city of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. This past April, Ocean Springs declared all of these-alongside dozens of other well-maintained homes and properties-to be “slum and blighted” in order to designate them as an “urban renewal” area. That designation authorizes the city to use eminent domain to forcibly take away the homes and businesses within the city’s so-called “urban renewal area.”
The city also didn’t tell any residents or property owners that they declared them blighted-or that the blight designation would be final and unappealable if they failed to appeal within 10 days. Unsurprisingly, since no one knew, no one appealed.
Cynthia Fisher has lived in the Railroad District for 70 years. In 1980, she moved around the corner from the home she grew up in, which is now declared “blighted.” At least seven family members, including one of her daughters, live just a few steps away. The houses in her family are over 100 years old; six generations of Cynthia’s family grew up in their Robinson Street house.
Now, Cynthia, along with other home and business owners whose properties have been blighted, are teaming up with the Institute for Justice to launch a federal lawsuit. Well-cared-for property should never be blighted, and blight designations should never be passed in secret. The U.S. Constitution bars government from depriving people of their property rights without due process, but that is exactly what Ocean Springs did.
![Darren Waller - Who Knew (Her Perspective) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GytDjB8u6bM/mqdefault.jpg)
UPDATE: After IJ filed suit, the Ocean Springs Board of Aldermen reversed our clients' blight designations! However, nothing in Mississippi law prevents the Board from repeating this activity in the future. As things stand, a future city council could subject property owners to the same secret blight process, as could any city in Mississippi.
IJ's lawsuit will continue.
Learn more here: ij.org/press-release/ocean-springs-property-owners-lawsuit-will-continue-to-seek-changes-to-mississippi-law/
IJ, you rock. Keep up the good fight
They look like lovely middle class homes! IJ needs to look into Agenda 21 and the government land grab. This is not a race problem. Its a "hate humanity" problem. Look at Lahaina, Hawaii. The government is an opportunistic blight! Our legislators are the ones that hate us. Stop the governmentpeoplehate@@roger2bro
un ben owance?
Why do you think Lahaina HI was destroyed. The cops blocked roads off so people could not get to safety.
The people of Lahaina HI could use your help.
@@skinnie2838
Unbeknownst. Apparently, the correct pronunciation sounds like "know", not like "now". (I just looked it up after I read it into Google to get the spelling right, and Google pronounced it back to me with the same long O.)
If you look you’ll more than likely find someone on city council has connections with the land developers.
Follow the money. Follow the votes.
Hendry recently documented this predatory behavior in IN. It must be happening everywhere and maybe has been all along.
Exactly!
Yeah I see this happen all over not just "black" neighbourhoods.. they should start opposing 15 min cities!! But of course ppl are programmed to fixate on race.
@@LibertyPlusTVit is racism and traitor conservatives are the racist behind it
The city council must be held accountable.
They helped create the slum
Seems like they ARE being accountable, regardless of the yelps.
@@forkthepork .. that's NOT a slum. You want to see a slum take a look at Camden New Jersey, that is a slum.
That city council is only doing the WHITE thing.
The city council, along with the mayor and chamber of commerce appear to be mostly white. White people held accountable in the South?
You’re dreaming.
Total gross abuse of the public trust. Thank you for taking this case. Government overreach is getting way out of hand.
Corporate Welfare at it's best. Government sponsored.
What a disgusting, self serving action from this city! Thank goodness for the institute for justice stepping up to help these folks! This is just more of the egregious behavior by those that are supposed to serve the citizens. Instead, they stand on the backs of these people purely for self serving reasons. Enough is enough!
Community development, urban development, and other committees are created to bypass city councils and even code / building rules that leave property owners with no rights other than 10 days to rectify or suffer fines/condemnation. Many stories in Texas where a property was deemed "Hazzard to the community", but when the property owners attempted to repair/request permits they were denied. Some where granted permits only after the deadlines to repair had expired and the committees began to vote on demolitions or heavy fines. Some courts where these fines/violations are handled limit public access or transparency. A Money maker for some cites/towns.
Same thing happening in texas without due process.
My initial comment was apparently ce n sored. To many details on how this is happening across the country.
Pray they will prevail , looks like a lovely neighborhood
@@diostejastierras7898happens to me all the time. Comments disappear when there’s too much detail
I was dubious, so I checked multiple spots in Ocean Springs on google street view. Every single house looks meticulously maintained. It's one of the cleanest neighbourhoods I've seen in the US.
This story needs to go viral. Unreal.
I didn't see a single house in the background that looked like it was part of a slum. And the fact that no one got the notice that they only had 10 days to reply to until months later should be grounds to invalidate the whole blight label.
They should get landmark preservation instead.
Sounds like an issue that could be resolved using 2A against an oppressive government
This is an outrage! I’m 100% with the residents
We are losing our Property Rights
@@ms-tw4sj We are losing ALL our rights!!!
I just hope those people fight against the destruction of their community and win for a change. There are some really beautiful homes there that mustn't be demolished. Those people have a right to keep their homes.
"Blight" is a word too conveniently and carelessly used. Any neighborhood, no matter how well maintained, will be designated as blighted if it doesn't meet the lofty esthetic standards of those in power.
@@chrismiller5198 That's what happened to the West End in Boston. Beautiful, but low-income neighborhood demolished in the early 60s. There was some classics architecture there that was demolished and lost forever.
This is how Mississippi has treated black people since the beginning of time. I'm glad an organization is helping to bring this to light. I pray this will be handled with justice!!!
Eminent domain is the most abused law everywhere. If it's not "blight" it's something else. There's a NJ town going through the same thing. It's always prime, oceanfront neighborhoods.
What town in Jersey? I lived on the shore when I was younger, left in 1987.
They're stealing land in Maui too!
@babskaz74 not enough people are talking about Acapulco. It’s sickening.
@babskaz74 the difference in Mexico is the cartels and the government friends make sure to silence dissenters
That's what colonizers do.
un ben owance?
This is just one of the reasons I donate monthly to the Institute For Justice.
Same here.
This is treason
There's a lot of that going around these days.. not very much accountability though.
You have no idea what treason is if you think this is treason.
@@ossoduro7794if your and elected officials or sworn agent of the gov. and you swear an Oath to The Constitution, Country and the Countrymen "YOU SERVE" and you violate it causing them harm or loss, it's Treason Sir.
And we have from top to bottom in our gov.
If you need more clarification I'll gladly force feed it to you. Lol
I'm an old skool Veteran. I know what Freedom really tastes like ya smart ass punk.
You owe them an apology.
@@ossoduro7794 and you have issues reading other definitions - Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
trea·son
/ˈtrēzən/
noun
the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill the sovereign or overthrow the government.
"they were convicted of treason"
the action of betraying someone or something.
plural noun: treasons
"doubt is the ultimate treason against faith" ( well lookie there treason against the towns citizens... huh but you said...)
HISTORICAL
the crime of murdering someone to whom the murderer owed allegiance, such as a master or husband.
noun: petty treason; plural noun: petty treasons ---------
RUclips has an edit and a delete option FYI.
@@XiahouJoe Only hearing this one-sided account from folks who incessantly cry about foul play hardly establishes "treason" by ANY definition.
The thing I'm frustrated with is what is the point of having a law if it's not against the law to violate it?. This issue has been decided over and over again and now it gets to be decided again. I say make it illegal to attempt the subversion of settled law.
Amen.
Who decides what's a subversion? Can you fake a subversion?
@@militustoica
...it's Ahmen.
...a law is immutable.
@@AlanAnderson-zz9nuhahaha if we could only determine absolutely perfect laws this could be true
Took a google earth walk around the area, and aside from a couple of houses that needed minor repair, most homes were quite well kept. Looked like a place I wouldn’t mind living there if I could afford it. Didn’t see any blight, just homey neighborhoods with some to die for beautiful houses. The city is up to something shady no doubt.
They see these people as not significant whatsoever and it’s alarming. They just take peoples belongings with no remorse.
Take a look at what the city is trying to destroy. It’s not blighted, not a slum, but a neighborhood of nicely kept yards and lovely little homes, many you can tell belong to senior citizens and elderly people. Land developers, or as I like to call them-rich no good thieves, trying to steal peoples homes.
And then always telling black people they need to do better
Sounds like the city council needs to be voted out too
Voted out and pursued with the maximum criminal and civil penalties
They need their homes taken from them
It's always about the money . The city council needs to be investigated. How dare they work with developers behind these people's back. How evil are these developers and city council.
This is why every other lawyer/group I watch or read about respects the Institue for Justice. I'll donate to IFJ asap!
only thing annoying me, just as a viewer, is there is never any updates. even in several year old cases that should not be under any no-public discussion situation. so, do they actually do anything or take the donations and go to vegas with it? i doubt it of course, but..any info would be appreciated
@thecursed01 they post updates on the website and do post updates on their RUclips channel. The problem is some of these cases take years to slog their way through the court system.
@zaiquiri1799 ah. Good to know. If/when I find treatment and then a job again,will do that. Even when I don't livein america
@@thecursed01They do updates. The legal process is very long and governments tend to exhaust all appeal options. The politicians and bureaucracts don't worry about wasting money on lawyers. It's not their money and the reality is that even when tyrants are caught, they're not really punished. The immunity laws are much too protective, producing a culture adverse to accountability.
We occasionally donate and receive great updates as well. God bless the IFJ.
Simply disgusting. The city management should be ashamed of themselves. Good on the people to stand up for themselves. When have we had enough tyranny, folks?
You can't shame those who have no shame. Only impeach and prosecute or revolt.
This nazi-republican city council has to be brought to justice by any means nessesary.
Im a northerner but i spent 6 weeks in the Ocean Springs/New Orleans area, feeding people displaced by Katrina. The black community in OS were very open & appreciative to us (the Red Cross sent us down). I have many memories of the dear people of OS. May the Lord bless them. What the town is doing to this community is disgusting. They've already been thru enough.
Land grab by developers plain and simple.
This is one thing I want to follow closely. Please give updates at every step.
"The blight designation never goes away"
It'll go away damn quick when the developers start work.
By being designated as blighted they robbed all of these folks of the dollar value of their homes. At the very least the city should remove the designation and be sued for damages to go to each homeowner.
Not only should these citizens get to keep their neighborhood, but the crooks in the city gov who tried to make it happen AND the people who stood to benefit from this attempted theft deserve some time in prison
Bet it doesn't lower the appraiser home value for taxes though!
The next move will be taxing them off their property
Property rights are one of the most important things this country was founded on .
If I were the institute for justice I would shame them with the arguments of property rights that the United States government went so far as protecting slavery claiming property rights now wants to claim that property rights aren't important dealing with the same groups of people 😑
I didn't see any "Blighted " homes in those clips ! Sounds like a underhanded move by the city to me !
A person's property should remain their property until they deem it to be sold or transferred. No city should have the power to force people off their property, ever.
It’s been happening since this country was founded.
I cannot agree with your extreme position. The attempted taking in this story is bogus but there are actually legitimate reasons for government entities to force the sale of properties for purposes that actually are for public benefit, e.g., roadways, parks, public facilities, etc.
@@avsystem3142 those are not very good reasons either. The public does not serve the government and my neighbors shouldn't have the power to evict me by way if putting a park where my house used to be.
@@travishanson166 You really don't comprehend the necessity for eminent domain. For example, there would be no interstate highway system. All the required land was acquired through eminent domain. There would be no intra and interstate electrical distribution system, all the land was acquire through eminent domain. There are countless other examples of the absolute necessity for such legal proceedings and the acquisition of land for use benefiting the public.
@@avsystem3142 I know the purpose of eminent domain.
These people are being forced out of their homes so rich people can profit off their land, using city resources to do it.
This happened in Cincinnati 20 years ago. The neighborhood is now a retail and professional development called Rookwood.
Bruh...Rockwood isn't even all that though. They built that plaza when plazas started dying
😂😂😂
Thank you for exposing this hateful act.
Mississippi seems like it’s some of the worst of the worst. Wow.
It is. Corruption is Mississippi's middle name. Check out Tate Reeves.
Read the comments. This happens everywhere in America.
IFJ, your work is so necessary and in my eyes is God's work. The government and its tyranny has no limits and these people deserve to keep what is theirs. Just because the government deems something does not make it so, we know how corrupt they can be and if it's something they want they will find any loophole or create any loophole they can to get what they want, all the while forgetting these are the people they're supposed to be representing. I know with IFJ on their side these people are in good hands.❤ Fight the Right Fight!!!!!
I live in a small city adjacent to the city of Denver proper. The city officials toyed with doing this same thing to an old area of the city as they were seeing dollar signs with the developer interest as Denver was super popular at the time. In the end they did not proceed, but the fact that this was even proposed made me research "urban renewal departments" in cities. Basically back in the 1950s-60s many cities had people that left the city center and went to the burbs. This freaked city officials out so they almost all adopted "urban renewal" boards in the city, and they passed legislation allowing the urban renewal departments to consider areas "blighted" so that they could be "redeveloped". It is a disgusting loophole in the laws of virtually all American cities that dates back over half a century that I think NEEDS to be removed. Isn't it for the property owners to decide what the use will be of THEIR land, and if they will continue to occupy THEIR land?! It is bad enough that we have to pay property taxes forever or the govt can take back our homes even if entirely paid off! So I would strongly suggest to folks in general to look into REMOVING the old laws allowing for urban renewal boards/depts as well as blighting of so called "undesirable" areas/properties!
Also another way to protect your old neighborhood is to add historic preservation boards to the city, and designate neighborhoods and/or houses in the area as "historic" and get them on state and national registries which prohibits the structures from being taken down or changed. So get rid of the urban renewal depts and their laws while adding in historical designations and protections.
Urban renewal boards are good when all they are doing is helping people get low interest loans to upkeep their homes and providing resources like finding trustworthy contractors
"Get a landmark protection" was exactly my thought as well, but it comes with its own caveats as well.
Same thing they were trying to do in Lahuana.
Good for these people, taking a stand.
By the way, the homes and church shown on the video are beautiful. They are part of our nation's history. Leave them alone and remove the label.
Shame on the city officials!!!
Sickening. Hope they’re successful in their lawsuit, and hope the individuals responsible are held accountable.
The black community in Charlottesville, Virginia, saw the same thing during the "urban renewal" period of the sixties. Their central neighborhood disappeared. This can not be allowed to happen again.
...start by 'stop calling yourself black. '
This kind of thing happens all over the country. It’s disgusting! It’s all about greed.
I’m glad this community is fighting back. The designation of their area needs to be rectified.
Maybe pressure from outside of the community would help. Emails? Petitions? The idea is to make local officials aware of this community’s value and its importance to everyone, not just the local residents.
their black so nobody is going to care. We don't matter to them.
Naw.
It's also about control and hate. These people (gov) hate others all they care about is themselves.
I don't want them to change I want them to have to be accountable if institute for justice hadn't been around maybe they would have lost it
Thank you IFJ for standing against this!
What a beautiful name for a little cozy town❤ How dare the state of Mississippi allow this travesty to happen to it's citizens that's lived there for generations.. it's heartbreaking!
Do better Mississippi!!
I'm not even surprised I guessed it was Mississippi just by the title alone.
Aunt Faye. Y'all are doing tremendous work on keeping thing's that belong to the family and the generations that have worked hard to maintain these properties within the family. Thank you so much ❤❤❤❤
Developers and politicians with ABSOLUTELY no conscience have always done this. We need to know better who we are voting for and also put much better protections for property owners on the books.
Really hope you win this case and any settlement to ALL residents, is enough to fully restore every house and building there, to its former glory.
The community is lovely.
The insidiousness of this country continues!
In Llano county,TX, it was proven they stole 79 homeowners house's, it was judge,mayor & real estate developers.....
Around what time did this happen? I can't seem to find any story/news about. They always try to bury these things after they happen. Take care
Do not let them take it. They tried the same thing in Little Rock, AR with the Little Rock Technology Park. They love the 'blighted' label! It took us 3 years of fighting to win!! We used Not For Sale signs and many other things recommended by the IFJ. We might have won sooner, but some landowners, even though they stood to lose everthing, would not participate!!! Even a veteran who paints his company unit on his window!!!
This has been going on for decades😡 It seems to be getting worse only because We are hearing about it more. I am so glad people are fighting back.
A well-off Black neighborhood was razed about 50 years ago in Atlantic City so the city could have an off-ramp from the interstate to the casinos. So sad to hear this is happening again...
Wow!!!! This is so sad and heartbreaking because they know what they are doing. Mississippi is just being Mississippi
Developer and council members would never be heard from again.
"It's all about the money." - 100 percent.
I totally understand this issue and how the property owners feel. Eminent Domain is a threat to all homeowners, in my opinion. I live in a small Midwestern town that planned to build a new truck route parallel to the trunk highway going through town. This new road would be built on a good portion of our side yard which is unsatisfactory to us. I attended a town meeting on this subject and told the city planners how outraged I felt. So far, nothing has happened. I hope it stays that way! I don't want OTR truck traffic close enough to my restored 120+ yr old home to actually SEE the truck drivers driving past from our French doors.
Especially since "adding one more lane" never solves the problem of congested highways. More would be added in the future.
A lack of response should never in these cases been seen as a "just go ahead" sign, but that the person hasn't recieved the notice or understood it well enough to be informed enough to say either or. Which means putting time limits to respond shouldn't be possible in the first place.
"They will give us pennies and make millions off of it". This statement encapsulates eminent domain.
Time to vote out the city officials.
Good job.
It was good to see the citizens victorious in this battle. The Institute For Justice, is an organization that helps people take on coruption and power. We should give it our support.
Fight the blight statement. I've done that with a HOA. It took me years but I had it removed. Fight, fight, fight for what's yours and for who you are. I swear a lot when I think about it.
This Is What Gov is doin to Maui as well
You've been left alone so long that your house is now historic, so valuable, so we'll take it now.
Whenever developers want to destroy a community they always get the local city government to declare it a slum. That happened to the West End in Boston. It was a low-income neighborhood and was ethically diverse. But it was in no way blighted. It had some magnificent classic architecture which would be considered historic nowadays. But the entire area was demolished in the early 60s.
You all are in the right place at the right time! Thank you.
Reminds me of what transpired in Long Branch, New Jersey (home of the most corrupt politicians money can buy)
Long Branch is on the Atlantic Ocean and when they started buiding oceanfront hotels, the other adjacent areas weren`t far behind. The city colluded with developers by refusing to issue building permits, thereby depriving homeowners of the abiity to improve their properties and be declared blighted!
Residdents stood together and took the city to court to fight the arbitrary actions and won!
God be with You as You fight for Freedom !
The neighborhood doesn't look blighted to me. It looks working class, but the properties look clean and well-maintained. The grass is cut and the vehicles don't look dilapidated. It is shameful to see a nice community like this get railroaded by its own local government.
Neighborhoods like that get a landmark protection in some countries, because they document valuable urbanistic and architectural features of their time. The lush greenery is also good for the city's environment.
Thank goodness we have videos like these to bring issues like this to light. Without this amazing video, we would not have seen how this community was being treated. Very good video. Great storytelling!
It’s sad to see things like this happen to hard working Americans. You can’t trust any aspect of the government. We got to stick together because the government is always trying to pull us apart
This is sad, should never even be attempted without owners consent!!! Property rights are a pillar of American prosperity and stability.
I wonder if this neighborhood will burn similar to Lahaina.
whoever abuses eminent domain is just screwed up in general.
Stand strong lovelies. Don't let the crooks steal anymore from you.
Much love
imminent domain SHOULD NEVER BE USED!! Unless ALL parties are in agreement.
Thanks for the good work…
Protecting Homes is a priority in certain neighborhoods, Look into Allodial Titles, Land Patents, Common Law Land Protection, there are numerous ways to Protect what is Yours.
There alway seem to be money to build high end retail stores and fancy restaurants, and there’s no shortage of people to visit and eat there. People are working their fingers to the bone and simply can’t catch a breath. That’s not enough. One of them developer groups, happened along this neighborhood and decided they want it for themselves
I took a google maps stroll through the neighborhood in the unlikely chance IFJ cherry picked homes for the video. Well... it looks like a nice neighborhood. Houses are pretty small, but clean and well maintained. I only found one house that was boarded up (which I bet belongs to a bank). I can see making an argument for blighting individual homes (with significant hurdles to do so). But to blanked blight an entire neighborhood is ridiculous. Imagine a town forcing you off you home because your neighbor didn't mow his lawn.
The government should be required to take individual home ownwrs to jury hearing in court, with the defense fully funded by the government at median market rate, so they can't push it off on a cheap, incompetent lawyer. Making it more difficult and a real expense would encourage cooperate solutions.
No if they had a right about blighted homes they could pass laws arresting people for shabby clothes they don't have any rights to control private property in such fashion except with real, not imagined harms
@@patrickday4206 Not arguing that. By "significant hurdles", I meant things like proving there is either a health hazard or physical hazard to the area that is not being addressed. In other words, Girl Scouts should not have to risk a patio collapsing when trying to sell cookies. Nor should anyone have to worry about contracting some disease when walking by a house infested with rats.
Where that line is drawn is obviously up for very long debates. I agree that the line should be well into the homeowner's side. But there still needs to be a line.
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security”. Declaration of Independence
I really want to hear what they were thinking when they came up with this decision and i want the truth not some bs. Dont let up and thank you so much ij!!!
This, lush, green neighborhood with preserved historical houses and clean streets is a "slum"? Meanwhile, actual slums with homeless people continue to grow all around the country, because adressing homelessness is not as interesting as seizing somebody's property.
All politicians should be jailed
That The Institute For Justice WILL take on cases like this where government agencies openly, and mockingly abuse the RIGHTS of the "little people" is the reason that I fully support and make a small monthly contribution to this entity.
Government WILL ALWAYS go out of its way to abuse the citizen, and without those willing to take up a just cause,, the government will always have the upper hand.
Abolish qualified immunity, Abolish civil asset forfeiture, Stop government overreach!
Mother-scratchers. Dam that is so illegal.
Fantastic! Thank you IJ !
Sue them good.
Wouldn't be surprised if this community has a major fire... Lahina like.
Disgusting greed and self-interests. Here's hoping you win that lawsuit, and maybe put one towards this platform next.
Proof racism is NOT gone. 🤬
Define blight? There has to be a standard. Absolutely disgusting and so typical of this country.
"blight" (noun): "Any property that rich developer wants"
There, I defined it for you.
Purely immoral. Shame on the city council.
this is the same story in every city of this country
Oh dear Lord. That is INSANITY!!..When will a black man leave free in this country?..
Oh wow that's awful. Mississippi govts must do better
Anyone with an older home can you go to the historical society to get it put on record? Then they can't touch it? Keep up the fight cause this can happen anywhere! God bless and stay safe!
Outrageous!!! Someone will pay for this evil... Mississippi Oklahoma was guilty of this back in the 1920s...
If eminent domain laws and references. look no further than when UPS demanded that they could corporately expand in Louisville. The late 80's to the early 90's. Fed Ex was building a model of expansion in Memphis at the time. The local politicians are going along with federal laws when states have the ability to make their own. The gentleman that mentioned "pennies on the dollar" is absolutely correct!!!!! I hope peolpe start paying attention. I grew up in louisville and graduated in 1989. The will be nothing to stop them unless we stand up togethor. UPS needed more runways, they took those folks homes and apartments!!!! Look It Up!!!jesus, reagan was still president. it matters about nothing more than greed and putting one's self on a level higher than who might stand next you. water and bread folks is all we ever needed.
The "blight" is the government officials in developer's pockets. Need a few dogged reporters looking in to this as well. Edit to add: getting legal historic building recognition for those old enough would give some additional protections that may be worth the regulation downsides if court fails.
You fight what is RIGHTFULLY yours. NOT FOR SALE AT ANY PRICE.
My question is who made the decision to do this? Bill each one for the fair market value of the property. When they fail to pay up, turn them over to the most vicious collection agency you can find.