Voters in McIntosh County, which is predominantly white, voted 85% in favor of the referendum to deny the construction of large homes on Sapelo Island. As gentrification continues to seep deeper into longstanding Black communities, a Gullah Geechee community in South Georgia earned a historic referendum at the ballot box earlier this month. Voters on Sapelo Island soundly rejected a measure that would have allowed large homes to be built there. Black landowners feared the approval of the referendum would have saddled them with soaring property taxes. The vote overrode a 2023 decision by McIntosh County commissioners to double the size of homes allowed in the tiny community of Hogg Hummock. It remains the only sea island community of Gullah Geechee individuals in the entire state. “All that’s family,” Ire Grovner told the Guardian . “All those people who want to build houses here ain’t gonna close me in.” In the early 20th century, more than 500 Gullah Geeche residents claimed Hogg Hummock as home. Now the number has dwindled to 30 or 40, with many still maintaining homes and property on the island. Gullah Geechee communities exist throughout the Southeast, from the Carolinas to Flo
