For generations, Sag Harbor was a refuge from racism and retreat for middle class African-American families. Recently, real estate prices have skyrocketed in the historically black neighborhoods of Azurest, Ninevah and Sag Harbor Hills. There is a movement to preserve the area’s history.

Eleanor Lingo grew up in Southold.  Starting in 1954, as a teenager, Lingo anonymously placed flowers on the grave site of a women identified as “Negro slave lady” every year in the cemetery near First Presbyterian Church.  She places a holiday wreath on the grave of the forgotten slave each December. It took Lingo, now 90, decades to learn who the mystery woman was.

The anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act, is approaching this April. The practice of redlining kept African-Americans from buying property in many communities on Long Island, including black veterans returning after World War II. News 12 speaks with a couple shut out of their own piece of the American dream in Levittown because of the color of their skin. We also explore the effectiveness of the Fair Housing Act and how segregation persists throughout Long Island.

St. George’s Church of Hempstead was founded in 1704 and was supported by the wealthy farmers in the surrounding countryside -- including Thomas Jones, of the famed Jones Beach. These elite attended the church with their most valuable property -- their slaves.  The slaves sat only on the second floor of the church, which became known as the "slave gallery."  Many current church members are the descendants of those slaves and many are buried in the church's graveyard.

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