Slave descendants vow to fight on after Georgia county approves larger homes for island enclave

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press

DARIEN, Ga. (AP) — Descendants of enslaved people living on a Georgia island are vowing to keep fighting after county officials voted to double the size of houses that can be built in their tiny community. Black residents of Hogg Hummock on Sapelo Island say they fear zoning changes approved by McIntosh County commissioners Tuesday evening will raise their property taxes and force families to sell their land. Hogg Hummock is one of the few surviving communities of people known as Gullah, or Geechee, in Georgia, whose enslaved ancestors worked coastal plantations. Homes in the community of 30 to 50 people had long been restricted to 1,400 square feet of heated space. Commissioners raised it to 3,000 square feet.