How a Black utopia for formerly enslaved people became a wealthy White enclave

’40 Acres and a Mule’ briefly created a Black utopia. It became a wealthy white enclave.

“You could feel chills to know that they had it and then they just pulled the rug from under them, so to speak.”

How a Black utopia for formerly enslaved people became a wealthy White enclave

Skidaway Island, Georgia, is home today to a luxurious community that the mostly White residents consider paradise: waterfront views, live oaks and marsh grass alongside golf courses, swimming pools, and other amenities. In 1865, the island was a thriving Black community, started by freedmen who were given land by the government under the 40 acres program. They farmed, created a system of government, and turned former cotton plantations into a B…