Members of community of slave descendants allege neglect

Attorney Reed Colfax speaks at a news conference outside federal court where he filed a lawsuit on behalf of one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities of slave descendants on the Southeast coast, suing state and county entities accusing them of discrimination and neglect, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015, in Atlanta. The lawsuit alleges landowners on Sapelo Island pay high property taxes while receiving few basic services from surrounding McIntosh County or the state of Georgia. They say that’s making it nearly impossible for them to live there and is destroying their community. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

ATLANTA -- Residents and property owners in one of the few remaining Gullah-Geechee communities of slave descendants on the Southeast coast are suing a variety of state and county agencies, accusing them of discrimination and neglect.

The lawsuit alleges landowners on Sapelo Island, along Georgia's coast about 68 miles south of Savannah, pay high property taxes while receiving few basic services from surrounding McIntosh County or the state of Georgia. They say that's making it nearly impossible for them to live there and is destroying their community and culture.
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Attorney Reed Colfax said he filed the lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Atlanta.
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Source: AJC.com 4:59 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015 | Filed in: News