Charleston Reparations Task Force Demands 7,000 Acres From Historic Plantations

A Charleston-based reparations task force is calling for the transfer of thousands of acres of land from three of the Lowcountry’s most well-known plantations, reigniting conversations about reparations and historical accountability.

The group is demanding more than 7,000 acres from Boone Hall, Magnolia, and Middleton plantations—properties that collectively span nearly 8,300 acres.

Organizers say the request is part of a long-standing effort that dates back generations.

“This call for reparations isn’t new,” said Efia Nwangaza, founder of the Malcolm X Center for Self Determination. “Each generation has to recognize its challenge and either betray it or realize it the demand for reparations is centuries old.”

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Nwangaza argues Charleston’s historical role in the transatlantic slave trade makes the demand especially urgent.

“As South Carolina generally, and Charleston specifically, having been the beachhead and the capital, as some have put it, of the enslavement and trafficking of African people—we’re late to the call,” she said.

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