Topic for Writing Project 4

A very intriguing and devastating topic that I would like to write about is the flooding of black cities all across America that are now recreational lakes for people to merely fish in. Whole communities just erased from the map and from history have successfully been forgotten about and removed from history. 

It wasn’t until I came across a youtube video from The Amber Ruffin Show explaining this bit of history that is rarely taught. When I read the topic for this writing assignment, it was one of the first things that came to mind. There is so much history behind these incidents to uncover. 

Dozens of cities across America, mainly the south, have been cleared out and flooded. The fact that this is not known to me took me slightly aback, but at the same time, I was not surprised since the majority of Black History in America is erased. 

For my project I will be focused on one specific incident, the one of Oscarville turned into Lake Lanier which is the biggest lake in Georgia. Once a black town in Georgia populated by thousands of people was cleared out after an incident within just 8 years. By 1920 the town was empty and in 1956, Forsyth County flooded the area to create a lake which covered the entire town of Oscarville, placing it underwater, to be forgotten. 

This topic is perfect for this writing project since it encapsulates the exact thing America was trying to do, which was silence black voices. It is an example of how America succeeded in removing black spaces in America. This touches on the past and relatively current accounts of America's neglect and direct racism towards the black community and I would like to explore more about it.