Activists say more should be done to identify bodies at Sugar Land site

SUGAR LAND, Texas (FOX 26) - Part site tour, part spiritual journey -- activists entered the site seeking answers and left with some demands about how to right this historical wrong.

"I'm very well aware that one of those graves, inside one of those graves could be one of my ancestors. My history," said Deric Muhammad.

In April, construction crews building a Fort Bend ISD school found some bodies. Archaeologists eventually located 95 of them and determined they were inmates from the now-closed prison. At the time, the state rented out inmates for labor. The inmates apparently worked at Imperial Sugar. They are all African American.

"This is one gigantic teachable moment and it should be embraced by an educational organization like a school district for what it is," said archaeologists Dr. Fred McGhee.

And what it is, he and the activists say, is a crime against humanity. Tuesday night, the Sugar Land City Council discussed how to move the bodies and to honor them, but there are no hard and fast plans just yet. The activists want black archaeologists involved, black workers at the site, community involvement and a serious effort to track down families.

"We demand DNA testing. This is not something we are asking for and I don't give a damn who is going to pay for it," said Muhammad.