Discovered nearly two years ago at the construction site of the recently opened career and technical center, the Sugar Land 95 are the remains of 95 people who are believed to have died in the late 1800s and early 1900s when convict labor leasing—a loophole to slavery—was practiced.
While FBISD officials feel the most honorable way to move forward is to reinter the remains sooner rather than later, some community members feel it is disrespectful to rebury the Sugar Land 95 before their living descendants can be identified.
“Test the DNA; find the families,” Swatara Olushola chanted during the program. “The families should be a part of the reinterment process.”
Olushola, along with a group of protesters, were escorted out of the building by security during the program.
“You’re not here to bless anything,” Olushola said. “How are you going to bless the ground you desecrated?”
In addition to Olushola, a few other audience members spoke out during Superintendent Charles Dupre’s speech. They were also escorted out of the building.
“During the past two years, there has been controversy; heated conversations; decisions made and then revisited,” Dupre said. “These things were part of this journey, but so was the learning; so was the engagement, the partnerships, the opportunity to shed light on the past.”
Genetic materials from each of the 95 individuals have been collected and sent to the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin. Researchers are seeking funds to work on the DNA processing as an attempt to identify the remains.
In the meantime, FBISD will move forward with reinterring the Sugar Land 95, despite criticism from the public.
In the wake of the district’s decision to move forward with reburial without confirmed identities or positive DNA links, Michael Harris, a member of FBISD’s Sugar Land 95 Planning and Memorialization Committee, resigned Nov. 13 ahead of the ceremony Nov. 17.
“It has been my most sincere belief that through my involvement with the committee, the Sugar Land 95 would receive a peaceful and dignified memorialization,” Harris said in a letter to Dupre. “However, it has come to my attention that notwithstanding the committee’s recommendations or the outcries from the community stakeholders, that Fort Bend ISD intends to reinter the Sugar Land 95 after the memorial service to be held in their honor on Sunday, November 17, 2019.”
Harris continued by saying he does not believe reinterment is the proper course of action at this time.
During the program, Dupre revealed that the community can expect a formal memorial to be held in early spring 2020 after the remains are reburied. He added that the reburial process will not be visible to the public, in accordance with Texas laws and regulations.
“I assure you, we are working with an honorable and capable professional who respects the sheer weight of the responsibility given to them,” Dupre said. “When their work is completed and the individuals buried, we will continue to be transparent throughout the process.”
