The family of Josephine Wright recently reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the development group that attempted to take their land.
According to the latest reports by the South Carolina Public Radio, with the latest settlement, the construction company, Bailey Point Investment, will officially recognize the property as being owned by the Wright family.
The company is also not allowed to contact the family and inquire about purchasing the land. The Wright family will also have a fence to privatize their land from the land under development around it.
The win for the Wrights comes two months after matriarch Josephine Wright passed away in January at the age of 94.
She made national headlines for her fight against Bailey Point Investment who initially sued her in February of last year, claiming that her shed, porch and satellite dish were overlapping onto their land; as a result, they claimed she was delaying the creation of their new homes.
In May, they then claimed they owned a part of her home and tried to force her to sell her 1.8-acre property, offering to pay only $39,000 for the home she had lived on for more than three decades and of which had been in her husband’s family since the Civil War.
Wright herself took legal action against the development company in a countersuit, accusing them of intimidation and harassment.
After her story was shared, the then 93-year-old received a wave of support, reaching her goal of $350,000 on her GoFundMe to hold onto her property. A variety of supporters, including Kyrie Irving, Fantasia and Tyler Perry, showed their support online with Perry paying tribute to her following her passing.
“Your 4 children, 40 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren will still be able to gather at YOUR house on YOUR land and tell the world what kind of fighter that you were,” wrote Perry in his tribute. “You have run your race and fought an incredible fight! Journey well my dear lady. You have inspired me.”
The Wrights’ battle for their land is part of the larger issue of Black Americans losing their property, disrupting generational wealth.
Per the National Association of Realtors, although Black Americans owned millions of acres of property after the Civil War, a reported 90% of this land is no longer owned by these families.
To prevent land theft after the owner passes away, the National Association of Realtors emphasized the need for the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act.
Passed in 22 states, the law helps retain family wealth and protect heirs from predatory practices when it comes to land ownership.
