TALLAHASSEE (AP) \u2014 Local officials in Florida\u2019s capital city have voted to sell a city-owned golf course built on top of the graves of enslaved people to a once-segregated country club, despite vocal opposition from local residents and historians.<\/p>\n
Evidence of Florida\u2019s slave-holding past lies just beneath the surface of the manicured greens of the Capital City Country Club in one of Tallahassee\u2019s most sought-after neighborhoods, in the form of the long-lost burial grounds of enslaved people who lived and died on the plantation that once sprawled with cotton there.<\/p>\n
The Tallahassee City Commission voted 3 to 2 on Wednesday to sell the publicly owned 178-acre golf course to the politically connected country club for $1.255 million.<\/p>\n
The graves beneath the golf course<\/p>\n
Back in 2019, archaeologists with the National Park Service identified what they believe to be 23 unmarked graves and 14 possible graves near the 7th hole of the golf course, which is semiprivate and currently operates on city-owned land.<\/p>\n
Across the country, many thousands of unmarked and forgotten cemeteries of enslaved people are at risk of being lost, as descendants and volunteers fight development and indifference.<\/p>\n
The deal has reopened painful wounds from Tallahassee\u2019s segregated past and reignited concerns from local activists, who questioned the city\u2019s yearslong delay in building a commemorative site to preserve and protect the unmarked graves, more than four years after the commission voted to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike so many other Black people in United States, I\u2019m a descendant of slaves. I don\u2019t have the ability to visit the graves of my ancestors. I don\u2019t have the luxury to even know most of their names. I don\u2019t know their history. And that\u2019s why I\u2019m so strong in opposing the sale,\u201d said Justin Jordan, a student at Florida A&M University, a public historically Black university in the city.<\/p>\n
The terms of the deal<\/p>\n
At the time when the real estate deal previously came up at a commission meeting in October, no work had been done on the memorial. Since then, the city has installed a historic marker and cleared paths near the burial grounds, while golfers continue their games on the rolling hills of the course.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the deal, the live oak tree-lined property \u2014 prime real estate less than a mile from the Florida\u2019s Capitol building \u2014 must remain an 18-hole golf course and not be developed. About $98,000 of the proceeds of the sale will fund the city\u2019s construction of the commemorative site for the burial grounds, with public access to the memorial guaranteed, on the condition that residents don\u2019t \u201cinterfere with any active golf game.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the deal, the country club has also committed to hosting FAMU\u2019s golf team for practices and collegiate competitions, and the school\u2019s board of trustees has endorsed the agreement.<\/p>\n
Still, some residents remain skeptical about selling the land to what was once a whites-only club, and they questioned the price tag for the sprawling parcel, given its potential for future development.<\/p>\n
The country club, which according to a 2023 tax filing listed Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier as its vice president, has long played host to power players in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre we going down the path of a golf course that\u2019s a Mar-a-Lago 2 in Leon County? I\u2019m not even joking,\u201d said Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, who voted against the sale.<\/p>\n
Matlow didn\u2019t mention Uthmeier by name, but he referenced the club\u2019s \u201cheavy hitters\u201d and \u201cattorney generals\u201d with \u201cconnections with President Trump\u201d in his concerns around privatizing the land.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Uthmeier did not respond to questions about his current relationship to the club.<\/p>\n
A history of segregation<\/p>\n
Over the decades, the land has bounced back and forth between public and private ownership, with the club paying the city a nominal $1 a year in rent for the past nearly 70 years.<\/p>\n
That lease has been in place since 1956, when the club reverted to private ownership, allowing it to sidestep a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned the segregation of public parks and recreational facilities. Among the club\u2019s former members was a judge whose nomination to the nation\u2019s highest court failed after he faced questions about whether he helped privatize the club to avoid integration.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the deal won support from a majority of commissioners, including the board\u2019s two Black members.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox spoke of moving beyond the city\u2019s past and reinvesting the revenue back into public services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we talk about considering the racist, segregationist history of this country club, OK,\u201d she said. \u201cGet in line with all the other things that we\u2019ve had to overcome to be able to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
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