Black graves are being moved to make way for an industrial park, drawing a mix of emotions

The graves of hundreds of African American tenant farmers and their families are being moved in Virginia to make way for an industrial park. The project has elicited a range of emotions among the sharecroppers’ descendants. Some worry about the implications of disturbing the graves of people who were exploited and enslaved. Others hope the remains can be identified and reburied with more respect than they were afforded in life. The graves were on the former Oak Hill plantation outside of Danville. The plots are being moved to a dedicated burial space nearby.