America's First Freed Slaves Bought This Island. Now It’s A Luxury Resort.

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Published 2021-11-11
Long before Hilton Head Island in South Carolina became a vacation destination, it was a refuge for formerly enslaved people. But have you ever heard of the Gullah Geechee?

This community — with its own identity, language and culture — has been under relentless siege by threats of commercial development and land acquisition.

Their story is a warning to tourists everywhere: Your dream vacation could be happening on someone else’s ancestral land.



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All Comments (21)
  • @mrnancy1114
    Native Hawaiians and the Gullah people need to move on a massive class action lawsuit.
  • @tinaamariee832
    As a Gullah Geechee descendant this breaks my heart. What can I do to help.
  • @mayaj291
    I never understood why my people and our land couldn’t be listed as a historic area but then I realized what we looked like and then I remembered what country we live in.
  • @SweetsE1983
    It was heartbreaking to watch the auction proceedings. It’s almost like what’s the point of claiming your property if there is a large chance of it being purchased by someone else. People don’t care, as long as they can make money. I feel for this beautiful community.
  • @Revellius21
    Shout out to that old TV show Gullah Gullah Island back in the 90's. That show introduced me to the Gullah people as a child.
  • It’s heartbreaking, Im a Stewart raised in Atlanta and have always had a connection to the island spiritually. I don’t want my family’s history colonized, it’s literally the closest ancestral land we have left.
  • @minorcek
    Commercial development is coming to ever major city, leaving the poorest people literally trapped in rental units and completely unable to afford housing.....it's happening not only in the US but the whole world. It legit scares me
  • @afrinaut3094
    It never seems that African-descent & indigenous peoples “are forgotten”, it seems as though government systems very much remember them & want them eradicated.
  • That horrible woman who told the people who lost their land "sarry it didn't work out the way you expected but I am glad you are here" is so typical of false American niceness masking hypocrisy and the abuse of anyone who gets in the way of American greed.
  • @gileschavous
    Just a 79 year old white native South Carolinian. Spent spent many summers at Bluffton growing up and Hilton head before the bridge. Met many Gullah’s and they and their culture was great. What happened was a culturural and environmental tradgery. I wish that the past could come back.
  • @kimcole2865
    These people are Demons!!! They don’t want the Geechee people to keep they land… this is sad! They take over everything & don’t care & this is why they are all facing they Karma right now 🙏🏽
  • @Wtfwhatisthis
    Americans aren’t taught Black history… many kids in schools (no matter what race) never learn about minorities, their struggles, what actually happened to Native Americans, the horrible things that happened to enslaved people (before and after 1865), the Chinese Exclusion Act, and as a history major in college— my professors put a primary focus on it, and I wish we could shout it from the rooftops. This information, along with the legacy of the Gullah Geechee (and their continued struggles) all deserve to be in history books! In order to teach kids love and compassion, they have to understand the struggles of the people around them. As a white kid from the Midwest, I can guarantee my school (and many schools) never taught any of this. There are so many changes that still need to happen in the US!
  • This is so wrong, but it is happening everywhere. My family has been on the same farm land for 7 generations, but every farm around it has been sold to developers. 200+ houses to the west, 300+ to the north, and 300+ now going up to the east. These latest homes are being sold for 500-7-00 thousand each. It is a matter of votes as well as tax base. Our little farm does not produce the amount of income that all of these other people do combined, that's for sure. Also, we have 3 voting adults vs. how many adults living in these developments?? We don't stand a chance, and eventually ( in the not too distant future) my mom will be pushed off of land that she and my dad worked all of their married life 62 years together.. They milked cows, tilled the fields, and raised 6 kids. They paid their taxes, were never in trouble with the law, helped everyone that they could and would give the shirt off of their backs, while doing without themselves. Why should they push her off of the farm??Because they are rich and she is not. The developers have an army of lawyers and politicians in their pocket and they know just what to do to take it away. My Aunt and Uncle had their home taken away by Emminent Domain. It was a home that my Great Grandfather built by hand and had been in the family for 4 generations. They said it was to widen the road. Road has never been widened, but the house was torn down. Stand your ground!! Hold on to every inch that you can and find a smart, savvy lawyer who will back you. Praying that you stand strong, and are victorious!!!!
  • @dejawest3976
    Truly heartbreaking..they hear you say hier property but still want to buy ...evil evil
  • @meowmeow-hw8wo
    I think a fund should be set up to help these people pay back taxes and get their land back!!! This is heartbreaking 💔
  • @maddykalell1270
    I grew up watching Gullah Gullah's Island and I had no idea that today it is known as Hilton Head Island. I feel super ignorant, glad I know now.