There are currently multiple paths connecting the Mirror Lake Connector to downtown Villa Rica, Georgia but if Black homeowners could be kicked off of their land, the City could create a more convenient route. 

Homes in the Cleghorn-Anderson neighborhood of Villa Rica have been owned by African Americans for over 110 years. Some current residents were born in homes that they are in jeopardy of losing because the city is in contract with a developer to build a road through their community. 

Unbeknownst to the low-to-moderate income Black seniors who own homes in this neighborhood, Villa Rica has been developing this plan to link downtown Villa Rica to the affluent golf course community since 2013. Even though they hadn't gotten permission from the residents, they signed contracts with a developer to place a road through their properties. They even got the residents to vote for a special tax imposed just on the Cleghorn Anderson community to fund the development.  

Millions of dollars have been secured - including federal Department of Transportation funds - for a plan that the City states will benefit Cleghorn-Anderson residents. Again, the community had never been informed of these plans and had not been involved in their development. 

Community members called for a meeting after some received notices in May 2024 stating that their property would be taken or impacted with no offer of compensation. They were outraged that Black homeowners are still being targeted in 2024 with tactics that were used in the Jim Crow era to rob Black people of land they worked so hard to secure. 

In fact, the city concealed their plans by calling Cleghorn/Anderson by a different name (“East Village”) in documents and meetings. Cleghorn-Anderson residents have never heard this name used for their community before. Also, unlike when Villa Rica plans development in other neighborhoods, Cleghorn-Anderson residents were never sent certified letters inviting them to give input. Source: September 13, 2024 Change.org Update

Community members have protested and spoken out at City Council meetings. The Mayor and other officials would like to find a resolution, concerned that stopping the Mirror Lake Connector project will impact other upcoming projects and lead to lawsuits from developers. 

In the early part of the 20th century it was common for government officials to use tactics like eminent domain in discriminatory or abusive ways to take land from property owners of color. According to a 2014 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights one million people, two-thirds of them African American, were displaced by eminent domain. African Americans were five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been based on their population numbers. 

These takings are unfortunately still happening. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that in 2023, property owners in a predominantly Black community near Sparta Georgia were fighting the efforts of a railroad company to force them to sell parts of their land for a rail line. 

Join us as we fight for these homeowners to keep their land and for them to preserve generational wealth. Sign our petition today. 

Want to take a deeper dive? Scroll through the petition updates, we've included much more background information there.

These residents are still fighting. If you'd like to find out more about how you can directly help, please reach out to us through the petition.

Thank you so much for your support!