Haley Brown
Gov. Ron DeSantis will decide if the state will launch a committee to dig into Florida’s forgotten African American cemeteries. A bill establishing the committee was sent to the Governor’s desk Thursday.
He has until June 18 to sign or veto the bill. If he does nothing it will be come law.
Tampa legislators Sen. Janet Cruz and Rep. Fentrice Driskell carried the bill to pass nearly unanimously in both respective chambers.
The hidden history of Florida’s African American cemeteries was brought to light in Driskell and Cruz’s district by reporting from Paul Guzzo of the Tampa Bay Times. Guzzo was tipped off by cemetery researcher Ray Reed regarding death certificates he came across listing a burial ground called Zion Cemetery Reed could not find.
After months of research, Guzzo and reporting partner James Borchuck discovered more than 800 people were buried along North Florida Avenue in what was believed to be Tampa’s first all-Black cemetery.
That discovery started informal investigations around the state, which uncovered more African American cemeteries. Driskell said African American cemeteries have been discovered under MacDill Air Force base in Tampa, near Tropicana Field in St. Pete, in Tallahassee under a golf course and in Jacksonville under a road.
Cruz said there could be as many as 3,000 unpreserved African American cemeteries in the state.
Abandoned and neglected burial grounds are not an emerging issue in Florida. A burial ground task force mobilized by the Legislature in 1998 reported that 40% to 50% of the state’s cemeteries are neglected or abandoned, according to a staff analysis. But cemeteries used to be segregated, and there was a disparity between the way White cemeteries and Black cemeteries were maintained.
The new law, if signed by DeSantis, would direct the Department of State (DOS) to create a 10-member Task Force to identify unmarked or abandoned African American burial grounds throughout the state.
The task force’s findings and recommendations would be reported to the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker and Minority Leaders in both chambers.
Any fiscal impact of the bill will be picked up by DOS. Task force members won’t be compensated but will be entitled to travel expenses and a per diem.
Under the bill, the task force would hold its first meeting by Aug. 1 and would sunset its mission by March 11, 2022.
