DISPLACING BLACK FARMERS IN APPALACHIA: How the Tennessee Valley Authority Act uprooted thousands of families.

• Author: Loving, Joy

Development-induced displacement": When was the first time you heard or read these words? For me, it was during the summer of 2021, when comedian, television host, and writer Amber Ruffin reported on the history of flooded African American towns in the United States, the most famous of them being Lake Lanier in Georgia and Central Park in New York City. Decades ago, numerous Black citizens were forced by the government, using eminent domain, to move out of their hometowns--some of which were burned down--so that other projects, such as lakes, dams, and bridges, could be built in their place.

According to sociologist and demographer Heather Randell, "Development-induced displacement is characterized by the permanent relocation of all households within a geographic area as a result of the construction of infrastructure projects."

The United States has a long history of the government forcing people off their land--just ask those from Indigenous communities. In Appalachia, one particularly impactful development-induced displacement event was prompted by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Act.

The TVA Act was adopted in 1933 to "improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the agricultural and industrial development of said valley,... and for other purposes," according to the TVA. Another primary goal of the TVA was to bring electricity to the region.

The act's stated mission includes providing "for the general welfare of the citizens" of the Tennessee Valley but, ultimately, it would result in the development-induced displacement of countless Black farmers.

I spoke about this disturbing and little-known legacy of the TVA with William Isom and Alona Norwood, director and researcher, respectively, at the research and educational project Black in Appalachia. Isom shared the displacement story of his own family.

Two branches of Isom's family, the Simpsons and the Isoms, lived and farmed in East Tennessee, along the Holston River in Hawkins County. He said that in about 1937, the government began purchasing land from people in that area in order to construct the Cherokee Reservoir. Part of that purchase was land belonging to Isom's great-grandfather Gordon Isom.

"[Gordon Isom] had about 200 acres, which is pretty impressive for someone whose father and mother were enslaved," Isom tells me. "He's the...