For the last decade, a group of affluent white residents of Baton Rogue, La. have been fighting to break off from the predominantly-Black city to create their own incorporated city. On Friday, the Louisiana Supreme Court granted their wish.
The State Supreme Court is allowing plans to move forward for the creation of a new city called St. George. The new community will be the first new incorporated city in Louisiana over the last two decades.
Leaders of the movement to create St. George celebrated the decision last week. “This is the culmination of citizens exercising their constitutional rights,” Andrew Murrell, one of the movement’s leaders said in a statement obtained by the New York Times. “Now we begin the process of delivering on our promises of a better city.”
However, critics of the plan have argued that it’s a thinly veiled attempt from white wealthy residents of Baton Rogue and its suburbs to separate themselves from the predominantly Black and less wealthy residents of the city. They’ve argued that the new city will divert roughly $48 million in tax revenue away from Baton Rogue.
The local chapter of the NAACP raised serious concerns about the new city’s impact on Black residents of Baton Rogue.
“The St. George plan poses significant risks to our education system, threatens the continuity of critical programs, and challenges community representation,” wrote the chapter in a statement. “The creation of a new municipality introduces considerable uncertainty around funding allocation for our schools, jeopardizing the cornerstone of our community’s future: education.”
On social media, some people compared the move to white flight, a phenomenon of white residents fleeing urban areas in response to efforts at integration.
“Conservative white flight from Black-run local governments continues in the South. East Baton Rouge Parish is plurality-Black & Louisiana’s most populous county equivalent,” wrote one social media user. “This wealthy suburban area is overwhelmingly white, & its secession may devastate Baton Rouge’s finances.”