The Cost of Unity

A yearlong investigation by The Greenville News and Furman University has culminated in a series of articles by the News about how Greenville’s progress has led to unintended consequences, namely, the displacement of Black residents in selected neighborhoods near Unity Park.

Underpinning “The Cost of Unity,” is research conducted by a team at The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman. At the center of the series is the nearly $70 million Unity Park unveiled in May 2022, which some say has spawned a new phenomenon, “green gentrification.”

The stories include remarks by Ken Kolb, chair and professor of sociology at Furman, and by Furman alumni such as Councilwoman Lillian Brock Flemming ’71 M’75 H’14 and Sarah Reese ’71 H14. Read “The Cost of Unity” and the personal accounts below:

A Black neighborhood wanted to fight blight, drugs. Instead, Greenville pushed them out.

This Greenville mother lived for her son. Could they get housing in a harsh city as time ran out?

This is what the decimation of Black Greenville looks like: Fleeing from landlords, high rent

Greenville paid for Unity Park instead of infrastructure. Black residents suffered most.

In Unity Park’s shadow, a Greenville woman calculates the cost of her life

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