2018 NLADA Annual Conference--Resilient Justice

Wealth inequality has persisted along racial lines in Eastern North Carolina for decades. Research shows that natural disasters actually increase this disparity. With the rise of gentrification in rural parts of the east, African-American communities struggle to hold onto their property and neighborhoods. For generations, these communities of landowners have passed their property through intestacy (a process known as heir property), making it more vulnerable to opportunistic developers and more difficult to access funds to maintain and restore their property after a disaster. With the challenges of “rural renewal” as a backdrop, this session will explore the intersection between the longstanding challenges heir property issues and increasingly common natural disasters. Specifically, we will explore the challenges that African-American homeowners face in trying to access disaster relief funds, which in turn prevents them from repairing their property, drives them out of family homes, and increases the wealth chasm.