NC Water Fight: Black Counties Targeted. Data Centers Blamed. Gullah Geechee Land Fight

North Carolina faces a severe drought, leading to a proposed bill (Senate Bill 214, Section 5) that would allow Franklin County, a 70% white-majority area, to condemn water and other property from three predominantly Black counties (Halifax, Warren, Vance). This move is primarily driven by the massive water demands of new data centers, each potentially consuming up to 2.5 million gallons daily. The bill is structured as a local bill at the state level, preventing the Democratic governor from vetoing it, and is seen as a direct attack on the property rights and autonomy of Black communities.

Mayor Mandelle Robinson of Infield, NC (Halifax County), stated, 'The bill that we're talking about has made its way to the General Assembly of North Carolina. It is Senate Bill 214 and particularly section five which basically strips the right of North Carolina majority black three of North Carolina majority black counties... without the consent or approval of elected officials in said counties.' He added, 'America has a high tolerance for black suffering.'

The Gullah Geechee community in South Carolina is demanding the return of over 7,000 acres of ancestral plantation land, framing it as a direct act of reparations for centuries of stolen labor and land. This demand is rooted in the historical context of 'Special Field Order No. 15' (40 acres and a mule) being reversed shortly after the Civil War. Modern-day plantations, like Middleton, continue to profit significantly from tourism and 'plantation weddings,' which activists describe as 'getting married at a crime scene,' while the descendants of enslaved people remain dispossessed and their communities face 'ethnic cleansing' through gentrification.

Akua Paige, co-founder of the Charleston Reparations Task Force, explained, 'It's not really like we're asking we're asking for our reparations. is really what we're as demanding that Davis return what was what was already rightfully ours and what was stolen from us.' Marcus McDonald noted, 'Middleton Plantation specifically made over 9 million in 2021 after the racial reckoning, after the murder of George Floyd.'

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an epidemic in Black communities, with high rates of dating violence among youth. This violence is deeply rooted in structural factors (policies disrupting Black families) and personal trauma (unaddressed trauma, emotional isolation in men). Experts from Detroit's Sasha Center emphasize that IPV is a 'man's issue that primarily impacts women' and advocate for fostering healthy masculinity, dismantling patriarchy and misogyny within the Black community. They highlight the 'adultification bias' against Black girls, where they are perceived as older and stronger, leading to their experiences of violence being dismissed or disbelieved by systems.

Omari Barksdale stated, 'Unhealed men are dangerous. Not just to ourselves, but to the people who love and surround us most.' Kale Lima added, 'Until we give an opportunity for black men particularly to talk about their distrust of any kind of relationship dynamic or issue and that is directly tied to lynching, we're going to miss the point.' Michael Moteep referenced a Georgetown Law study on adultification bias, noting how adults believe 'black girls seemed older than white girls of the same age and that black girls needed needed needed less nurturing, less support, and less comfort.'