Race, Residence, and Municipal Exclusion

The course will explore a phenomenon in which certain municipalities in North Carolina and other states draw town boundaries to exclude traditional African American communities even though the town has "extraterritorial jurisdiction" over the communities. The practice enables the disproportionately white residents of the municipality to retain complete political control over basic decisions about land use and community development within the minority communities. Residing outside town boundaries has important implications for the provision of public services and the value of land, but further research is needed to document the problem and possible solutions. The course will take a multi-disciplinary approach to examining "municipal outbounding" and land use policies and practices, including zoning regulations, with emphasis on possible Equal Protection clause, Title VI, and Voting Rights Act violations. Planning students will learn how their discipline can inform and improve the development of the law in this area.