Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
The remains of hundreds of African Americans are being shifted to make way for an industrial estate at a former tobacco plantation in Virginia.
So far 275 plots at Oak Hill have been exhumed. Most of the remains are unidentified, the graves marked only by an uninscribed stone.
One firm that will move into one of the 13 plots is Microporous, a battery maker which plans to build a $1.3 billion factory on the site.
The 1820s plantation was part of one of the largest slave-owning operations in the US. Most of the enslaved people left Oak Hill after emancipation in the 1860s, but those who remained were exploited as tenant farmers.
The decision to move the graves has provoked mixed emotions, the AP reports. Some descendants feel it’s a respectful move; others say the remains should not be disturbed.
