In a painful decision that disregards both history and humanity, the Tallahassee City Commission voted 3–2 to sell the publicly owned Capital City Country Club golf course—land that contains the unmarked graves of enslaved people—to a private, once-segregated country club for just $1.255 million. This land holds sacred history, and it should never have been put on the market.

In 2019, archaeologists confirmed at least 23 unmarked graves and 14 possible additional burial sites near the 7th hole of the course. These are not hypothetical ancestors—they are real people who were enslaved, buried without dignity, and now are being erased again, this time in the name of profit and private leisure.

Instead of fully honoring the city's 2019 promise to build a memorial and preserve the site, the city has cleared paths and placed a single historical marker—while continuing to allow golfers to play directly over the burial ground. Now, with this sale, the site is being handed to a country club with deep ties to Tallahassee’s segregated past and political elite.

City officials claim the land will remain a golf course and promise public access to a memorial, so long as residents don't "interfere with active golf games." But respect for the dead—and for Black history—should never come with fine print.

This isn’t just about Tallahassee. Across the U.S., unmarked graves of enslaved people are being paved over, built on, or ignored. But we have a chance to say no here—to protect one sacred site before it’s privatized forever.

We call on the Tallahassee City Commission to rescind the sale and immediately move forward with a fully funded, stand-alone public memorial and preservation plan for the site. This land belongs to history, not to private hands.

Add your name if you believe the graves of enslaved people deserve protection, not privatization.

Photo: AP/Kate Payne