Opinion: The Race Card and Forced Annexation
By Daren Bakst
Municipalities are getting desperate in their attempts to defend the unethical practice of forced annexation, as can be seen in recent events in Rocky Mount. In its attempt to forcibly annex property owners who live in an area called Oak Level, Rocky Mount has decided to use the race card.
Rocky Mount officials have made the absurd claims that the Oak Level residents don’t want to be forcibly annexed due to their racist motivations. There’s nothing unique about the strong and heated opposition by the Oak Level residents.
Annexation victims across the state strongly oppose being forcibly annexed by municipalities. It doesn’t matter what the race is of the annexation victims or those annexing them.
There’s plenty of reason for annexation victims to oppose being forcibly annexed. They live outside municipalities on purpose. To be forced into a municipality is to disrespect their decisions on where and how they want to live.
Annexation victims are forced to pay higher taxes and to abide by zoning laws and other restrictions that may undermine their way of life. For communities being forced to accept water and sewer services, there also is another major cost that often is overlooked.
Even though municipalities initiate annexations, the annexation victims are the ones that have to pay for the water and sewer infrastructure that provides the water and sewer services that they didn’t even want in the first place. These costs can exceed over $20,000, depending on the municipality.
Being forcibly annexed can mean losing one’s home due to the high costs imposed on property owners. Even if property owners can keep their homes, their lives will be fundamentally harmed without them ever having a say in the matter. Racism has nothing to do with wanting a vote or meaningful representation before the government can inflict such serious harm on so many individuals.
The racist claims are even more absurd because if there’s any reason for racial concerns, it’s due to the state’s forced annexation system. Forced annexation has an established history of being discriminatory in nature. Since there’s no real oversight over municipalities and they generally can annex whomever they want for whatever reason they want, there’s always going to be the potential problem of municipalities abusing the law for racial reasons to try and maintain or achieve a certain mix of people.
Forced annexation often is used to bring in white populations while excluding minority communities. The UNC Center for Civil Rights in a 2006 study examined forced annexation by municipalities in Moore County.
It found that the exclusion of minorities was prevalent. The study included some very strong statements, explaining that this exclusion “in part can be explained by history,” but that this “continued exclusion suggests something more sinister.” The study went on to say that the exclusion in many Southern towns “ is a new form of institutionalized segregation.”
The Cedar Grove Institute for Sustainable Communities examined several counties and found that municipalities were excluding African-Americans through the forced annexation process.
According to the study, it wasn’t clear whether the exclusion of minorities was a result of intentional discrimination or the unintentional outcome of forced annexation practices that seek out areas with properties with high-tax values.
There are examples where intentional discrimination may be the reason for forced annexation. In 2001, a Goldsboro city council member wrote a letter to state legislators, the mayor, and other city council members. The purpose of the letter was to oppose the incorporation of an area outside Goldsboro because it would have prevented the city from forcibly annexing it.
In the disturbing letter, the city council member wrote about his concern with “white flight” and keeping the city’s “racial make-up” in check. Not surprisingly, Goldsboro soon thereafter annexed the area.
This in no way suggests that Rocky Mount has racial motivations for wanting to annex Oak Level residents. However, if there are any racial issues to be discussed with the Oak Level forced annexation, the focus should be on the forced annexation system that lends itself to having a discriminatory impact on so many North Carolinians.
It doesn’t take a genius or the use of the race card to figure out why there’s strong opposition to Rocky Mount forcibly annexing Oak Level residents. The North Carolina legislature, 50 years ago, gave the city an awesome power over individuals who never consented to being governed by Rocky Mount. Now the city is going to use this annexation power that’s inconsistent with our democratic principles to devastate many people’s lives.
Bakst, an attorney, is Director of Legal and Regulatory Studies for the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh.
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The following is what I have been saying all the time. the fight should be with the forced annexation law. In re: the last 2 paragraphs says it all.