AFRICAN AMERICAN DESCENDANTS LOSING GROUND IN ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH | BY P. ANNE BATTISTE | SEPTEMBER 19, 2021

MOUNT AIRY, LA | I was in Mount Airy, Louisiana on Saturday - September 18, 2021, to assist with Hurricane Ida Storm Relief Distribution at The St. John Baptist Church physically located at 287 Daffodil Street, which is the ancestral congregation of my maternal family. While there, I observed newly built subdivision developments in what was once predominantly depressed, majority-minority African American communities.

I must admit, this disturbed me as I observed Caucasian teen kids packed in golf carts strolling down streets from obviously distressed properties that most likely will not qualify for FEMA assistance post Hurricane Ida.

Looking forward, I predict it’s just a matter of time before ‘the cut' will result in the displacement of long time Black residents for dimes on the dollar in property taxes unless African American community organizers in the area formalize some sort of organization to 'Build Back Better in St. John the Baptist Parish' to benefit the descendents of the original population who lived there when White men dared not.

Having not yet done the research, I presume the property cost less there, than elsewhere. So Whites, having the economic advantage in the parish, have legally acquired the land. Should the trend continue, the once Black land owners will become renters by necessity.

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