An eminent threat? Law that OKs removal of property from one and gives to another may undermine black neighborhoods.Does the Supreme Court's latest ruling on eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in pose an eminent threat to African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. communities? Anytime a law OKs "taking property that's rightly one individual's for the benefit of another, that's not good," says Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.). In Kelo v. New London New London, city (1990 pop. 24,540), New London co., SE Conn., on the Thames River near its mouth on Long Island Sound; laid out 1646 by John Winthrop, inc. 1784. , the Supreme Court on June 23, 2005 ruled against homeowners in a 5-4 decision that upheld local governments' ability to condemn homes for private development purposes. The Court affirmed that it was a permissible "public use" under the Fifth Amendment. It's especially a concern when "a lot of land located in the inner city and urban areas is prime for the taking" says Thompson, ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security Noun 1. Homeland Security - the federal department that administers all matters relating to homeland security Department of Homeland Security executive department - a federal department in the executive branch of the government of the United States Committee. This year, Thompson expects more bipartisan debates and resolutions calling to restrict the use of eminent domain for private development. "Eminent domain has been used both to destroy and build black communities," says Sheena Wright, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Abyssinian Development Corp. in Harlem. "On one hand, it has been used to undermine our communities and displace us wholesale for private business interests." But in some areas, she says, it has removed blight and provided affordable housing, and commercial revitalization. Damon Dorsey, president of the North Avenue Community Development Corp. in Milwaukee, agrees that eminent domain "expands the capacity to improve communities" by adding value and jobs to the area. Beulah White, executive director of Five Rivers Community Development Corp. in Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 , worries, "African American landowners will become extinct due to escalating taxes, dubious court rulings, and land sales transactions." |
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