Pleasant Grove would again find itself in a court battle over racial discrimination in 1987. After having denied annexation requests by majority-Black neighborhoods in 1971 and 1979, the city decided to annex a parcel of land in 1987 that was mostly inhabited by white residents. At this time, annexation efforts by cities in Alabama had to go before the Department of Justice. In this instance, the Department of Justice denied the annexation request because it would further dilute the voting power of Black residents within the city. Pleasant Grove would appeal this decision all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), which would ultimately agree with the Department of Justice. The SCOTUS ruling states, “The city has a long history of racial discrimination. Suffice it to say that in housing, zoning, hiring, and school policies appellant’s officials have shown unambiguous opposition to racial integration, both before and after the passage of the federal civil rights laws.” Still, the fight for equity is not over within the city. Pleasant Grove, according to the last Census, is around sixty-five percent Black, and yet the city still did not elect a Black mayor in the elections taken that same year. In 2025, be on the lookout to see if Pleasant Grove can once again make history.
Additional resources
- Beahm , Anna. “Pleasant Grove’s Story of Difficult Change.” AL.Com, 30 July 2019, www.al.com/news/2019/07/pleasant-grove-a-story-of-change-at-the-hand-of-mother-nature-and-the-judges-gavel.html.
- Beahm, Anna. “Pleasant Grove Lawsuit Accomplished Its Diversity Goal, Attorney Says.” AL.Com, 27 Aug. 2020, www.al.com/news/2020/08/pleasant-grove-lawsuit-accomplished-its-diversity-goal-attorney-says.html.
- Legal Defense Fund. “LDF Files Complaint against Pleasant Grove, Alabama over Voting Rights Act Violations.” Naacpldf.Org, 13 Dec. 2018, www.naacpldf.org/press-release/ldf-files-complaint-pleasant-grove-alabama-voting-rights-act-violations/.
- WVTM 13. NAACP files lawsuit against Pleasant Grove mayor, city council. 14 Dec. 2018. Wvtm13.Com, https://www.wvtm13.com/article/naacp-files-lawsuit-against-pleasant-grove-mayor-city-council/25590394.
About the author
Stephen Anthony is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Master's in Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He also serves in the Mayor’s Office as a Policy Analyst in the Division of Social Justice and Racial Equity at the City of Birmingham. |