THE BIG RED ONE. On a sweltering South Carolina summer Thursday, rising college sophomores Ethan Kemp, at left, and Robert Steedley, both of Bamberg, painted a fire hydrant in their hometown as part of their summer job with the public works department. Kemp attends the University of South Carolina, while Steedley attends Claflin University in nearby Orangeburg. Photo by Andy Brack. More: Center for a Better South.
NEWS
Is the Upstate a “Cluster of Shame?”
By Bill Davis, senior editor
JULY 10, 2015 | Even though the Confederate flag is off the Statehouse grounds as of today, the political battle over it exposed a South Carolina that still is deeply divided.
Yes, all of the House and Senate members who voted against taking down the flag were white. And, yes, they were all Republicans.
A little-noticed but very real divide that was exposed this week was one of geography. All three state senators who voted against moving the flag were from the Upstate: Lee Bright from Roebuck, Danny Verdin from Laurens and Majority Leader Harvey Peeler of Gaffney.
In the House, 18 of the 27 nay votes on the pivotal second vote on the Senate bill were from the same corner of the state: Eric Bedingfield and Anne Thayer from Belton; Gary Simrill of Rock Hill; James Mikell Burns of Taylors, Jonathon Hill of Townville; Stephen Moss from Blacksburg; Joshua Putnam from Piedmont; Judiciary chair Greg Delleney of Chester; Dwight Loftis and Wendy Nanney of Greenville; William Chumley from Woodruff; Craig Gagnon of Abbeville; Dennis Moss from Gaffney; Mike Pitts of Laurens; William Sandifer from Seneca; Tommy Stringer from Greer; Ways and Means chair Brian White from Anderson; and Bill Whitmire of Walhalla.
Interestingly, the eight of the members of the General Assembly who didn’t vote were also white Republicans, and many of them were from the Upstate. House members David Hiott (R-Pickens), William Hixon (R-Aiken) and Deborah Long (R-Indian Land) had excused absences. The five senators with excused absences were Raymond Cleary (R-Murrells Inlet), Thomas Corbin (R-Travelers Rest), Chauncey Gregory (R-Lancaster), Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) and Billy Odell (R-Ware Shoals).
A cluster of shame?
Nearly 10 years ago, Columbia filmmaker Bud Ferillo released the seminal documentary “Corridor of Shame,” detailing what he found along the I-95 corridor running through South Carolina – poverty, underfunded schools and a state surrounding it that didn’t seem to want to help for a variety of unsavory reasons.
Have the bitter votes this week in a special extended session of the General Assembly to take down the flag, a symbol of racism and heritage to many, shown there is a “cluster of shame” — a land that time forgot — in the Upstate?
“Cluster” seems to be the more appropriate term, as there are some outliers, including naysayers who voted no: Christopher Corley of Graniteville; Kevin Hardee of Loris; Ralph Kennedy of Leesville; Mike Ryhal of Myrtle Beach; Edward Southard of Moncks Corner; Bill Taylor of Aiken; Jeffrey Johnson of Conway; Kit Spires of Pelion; and Mac Toole of West Columbia.
“I think that’s absolutely correct,” said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford (D-Columbia), noting the geographic mass of “no” votes in the Upstate.
Rutherford praised House Republicans like Doug Brannon of Landrum and Gary Clary of Clemson for preparing bills to take down the flag in the days that followed the shooting of nine black parishioners at a Bible study at historic Emanuel AME Church, including its pastor, the late state Sen. Clementa Pinckney (D-Jasper).
Pinckney’s body was laid in state in the lobby of the Statehouse, but not before his casket rolled in a horse-drawn caisson past the still-flying flag. Gov. Nikki Haley had tried to unsuccessfully to push the legislature to have the flag down by Fourth of July celebrations.
Winthrop political scientist Scott Huffmon said the flag vote was one of those times when geographic divides were able to “shine through.” For decades, the state has been politically divided into the Upstate, the Midlands/PeeDee, and the Lowcountry.
He noted that when legislators redrew the state’s congressional districts, especially to accommodate the new Seventh District, state leaders took pains to create districts centered on metropolitan areas instead of traditional lines of division.
Does that mean the Upstate is more racist and bigoted than the rest of the state? Huffmon said no, pointing to history where Corridor of Shame whites, outnumbered by black residents, originally were more oppressive.
Other factors: History, demographics
History has shaped some of the debate. Consider that in 1871, President U.S. Grant suspended habeas corpus in nine South Carolina Upstate counties due to a sharp and violent increase in Klan activity, especially in Laurens, Spartanburg and Chester counties.
Demographics of the Upstate also figured into the vote, according to Huffmon, who points out that the Upstate has a low number of black residents and voters compared to the rest of the state.
That could mean two things: Upstate politicians, representing the tea party toehold in the state, didn’t have to fear backlash from black voters in their districts. Additionally, they may not have been as exposed to blacks as the rest of the state, which might make them less considerate of their feelings, he said.
“What they should have done,” said Rutherford of Republicans in the House who voted to leave the flag in place, “is what they apparently did in the Senate. They went back to their districts and talked about their friend Clementa Pinckney and how he died under the guise of that flag.”
Rutherford also praised state Rep. Jenny Horne (R-Summerville) for her impassioned speech to take the flag down, linking it, in his mind, to respect owed to the families of the slain.
What’s ahead
Bright, the most vociferous voice in the Senate for leaving the flag in place, said the public could expect to see some “backlash” votes in the legislature next year as a result of the flag coming down.
Bright said that the left was using the flag as a political brickbat, charging that Haley had supported the flag’s placement when she served in the House and during her two successful gubernatorial campaigns.
Bright also said the issue was far from over, claiming to have been shown data from a national pollster that 20 percent of black residents were for keeping the flag. Those numbers, however, would clearly suggest that four in five blacks were opposed to it remaining on Statehouse grounds.
Meanwhile, Brannon said he has continued to receive backlash from some of his constituents, one of whom called him a “[redacted]-lover” this week to his face. Earlier, a constituent threatened a family member and was visited by state law enforcement.
Brannon said the legislature’s flag wounds would heal in time, saying that the divide on the issue of raising the gas tax was a wider one, but maybe not as deep.
Regardless, Rutherford said not to expect him to co-author any bills with Pitts, the most vociferous flag supporter in the House, any time soon.
Bill Davis is senior editor of Statehouse Report. Send your comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
NEWS BRIEFSSix in running for Pinckney’s seat
Six Democrats have filed for a special election in which voters will choose a new senator to represent the district held by slain state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, D-Ridgeland. He was killed in the Charleston church massacre in late June.
No Republicans have filed for the seat that is considered strongly Democratic. Filing ends Monday for the Sept. 1 primary. If needed, a runoff would be Sept. 15, with the general election to be Oct. 20.
Candidates, in alphabetical order, include:
- Chauncey Barnwell, a Hardeeville attorney;
- William Bowman Jr. of Walterboro, a member of the Colleton County School Board;
- Sheree Darien of Ridgeland, a commissioner for the Technical College of the Lowcountry;
- Kent Fletcher, a Bluffton business executive;
- State Rep. Kenneth Hodges of Green Pond; and
- Maggie Bright Matthews, a Walterboro attorney.
Duke Energy steps up to the plate for Riley Institute
Duke Energy employees who wanted to help in the aftermath of the Charleston church shooting have joined with the company to promote diversity and civic participation in the state by helping leadership programs offered by the Riley Institute.
The company is providing $100,000 and a matching grant program for employees to build on the Institute’s successful Diversity Leadership Initiative and its Emerging Diversity Leaders program.
“The outpouring of support from around the state and the nation is awe-inspiring,” said Clark Gillespy, Duke Energy’s president in South Carolina. “In the face of this tragedy, it is important to come together to help our fellow citizens persevere and move forward. I believe these programs will be an important step forward in doing just that.”
COMMENTARYRural communities know challenges, need to seize opportunities
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher
JULY 10, 2015 | People in rural counties across South Carolina know the challenges they face.
They know about their high poverty, higher than normal unemployment, challenged schools and need for better health care facilities. They understand how their tax rates are higher than urban areas because of the lack of a broad industrial tax base to help fund local services.
But they also know these problems can be solved. They just need more resources, better infrastructure and more collaboration to get things done.
That crystal clear message came through in three town hall meetings — one each in Bamberg, Allendale and Barnwell counties — put together by the SouthernCarolina Alliance to listen to ideas for change as the organization works to roll out opportunities through a new federal Promise Zone designation.
“If you don’t change, you die,” one woman succinctly said. Almost 300 people turned out at the three sessions — a phenomenal number of leaders, black and white, from a dynamic cross-section of the communities. Their dreams and enthusiasm for the future were contagious. Long ignored by the powers that be, they are starting to see the great possibilities offered by collaborating with new partners and being able to tap into federal grant programs in special ways because of the Promise Zone designation.
Real changes in the six counties of the Promise Zone are possible. But leaders in these counties, just like those in other rural counties across the state, must work together and seize the ripe opportunities that are there for the taking.
NOT ENOUGH PRAISE can be heaped on state Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Summerville, for her moving, emotional plea on Wednesday night that refocused House colleagues after hours of debate on removing the Confederate flag off of the Statehouse grounds.
“Thank God for Jenny Horne,” state Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, said Thursday. “What Jenny said was really right on target and brought the debate where it needed to be.”
After a full day of debate as discussion continued on the House floor about a bill that passed 37-3 on Tuesday by the state Senate, Horne took the floor at a pivotal moment to urge House members to pass a “clean” bill — one with no amendments — so that it could go straight to Gov. Nikki Haley to be signed and not have to return to the Senate, creating more delay.
Horne, who reminded colleagues that she was a descendant of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, said it was time to move on and take down what had become a symbol of hate. Her voice quivered with emotion and strength:
“I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful — such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday — and if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday. And for the widow of Sen. [Clementa] Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury — and I will not be a part of it.
“And for all of these reasons, I will not vote to amend this bill today. We may visit this another session, another year. But if we amend this bill, we are telling the people of Charleston: We don’t care about you. We do not care that someone used this symbol of hate to slay [nine] innocent people who were worshiping their God.”
Others who deserve pats on the back for getting House members to move forward and pass a clean bill are former House Majority Leader Rick Quinn, R-Cayce, who worked with House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, to develop a compromise that toppled an effort to kill the removal effort by drowning it in amendments. Hats off also to state senators who acted swiftly to send a clear message — a 37-3 vote — that flag removal had become a mainstream movement.
You’ll hear that removing the flag won’t change some attitudes. Maybe. But one thing is for sure — getting rid of it from what should be the neutral ground for our state’s leaders is way better than perpetuating a symbol of a war that ended 150 years ago. Dum spiro spero, South Carolina. Woo hoo.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report. Send feedback to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHTTime Warner Cable
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Statehouse Report to you at no cost. Today, we’re happy to shine the spotlight on Time Warner Cable. The company’s Carolina Region provides video, Internet and telephone services to more than two million customers in more than 400 cities and towns across North and South Carolina. Time Warner Cable is the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., with technologically advanced, well-clustered systems located in New York State, the Carolinas, Ohio, southern California and Texas. The company’s mission: Connect people and businesses with information, entertainment and each other; give customers control in ways that are simple and easy.
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Let us build a legacy of inclusion on our way forward
By Richard W. Riley and Donald L. Gordon
JULY 10, 2015 | On the evening of June 17, 2015, a hate crime took place at a Wednesday evening prayer meeting at Mother Emanuel AME Church near Francis Marion Square in Charleston.
The absolutely horrid nature of the crime, the cold-blooded assassination of innocent people solely because they were black — all under the ideology of white supremacy — shocked us all. It tore at the social fabric we all depend on to carry out our daily lives in a civilized way in our communities and our country. And, it is this kind of senseless crime, shaped by racism and fueled by hate and hate talk, that our state must confront in a common sense and deliberate way.
The family members of those who were killed and the leadership and members of Emanuel AME in Charleston, moving with grace, dignity, and Christian forgiveness, set an example for our communities, our state, and the entire country on how to begin the healing process and prevent greater racial division.
Many of our state’s political, religious, and university leaders have responded with determination to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds, and that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, is the right thing for South Carolina.
But, as many voices have said, we as a state need to follow this important symbolic gesture with action. Let us take down the flag, yes, but let us begin to work deliberately to effect systemic change and to build a more inclusive South Carolina.
While we cannot immediately fix the toxic ideologies or individual acts of racists, we can work together to think and talk differently about our fellow citizens and neighbors who might look different from us.
There is real value, crucial value in healing conversations within communities across South Carolina, among individuals from diverse socioeconomic, racial and religious backgrounds who can speak openly and also listen openly to perceptions of others about racial barriers and how injustices of the past continue to have an impact today.
These efforts toward the common good are of immense importance, but real and lasting change requires more from all of us. What are the next steps in uniting our state?
There is little debate over whether personal responsibility and hard work are critical to success in life. Still, significant disparities in our systems of education, health and justice have a disproportionate impact on poor and minority citizens in our state, making it difficult to receive the rewards of hard work.
The collective impact of generational poverty, poor health and lack of access to well-paying jobs divides our state into two South Carolinas: one for those of us with access to broad interactions, collaborations that enable us to experience the best our state has to offer and the other, people at the margins beset by barriers impeding their ability to join the economic mainstream.
As we think about how we think and talk about the people of South Carolina, it becomes morally and ethically clear that all of us, economically well-off or poor, deserve a high quality education, good health care, and opportunities for good jobs. Creating conditions for this to happen makes great sense for our state in so many ways. The more educated our citizens the more likely they are to find good jobs and contribute to the economic well being of our state. The less likely our citizens will need social services and the more likely to add to the tax resources critical to pay for the social and physical infrastructure our state depends.
As we go forward from the horrors of June 17th, let us learn from the example set by the parishioners and leaders of Mother Emanuel AME church toward healing the gaping wound that appalled our state. Let us have meaningful conversations that look honestly at the racial biases that poison minds and can lead to the most horrific acts. Let us think and act deliberately about a new legacy for our state, one that brings the two South Carolinas together into one. A legacy of inclusion, of one South Carolina where we all share the benefits of belonging to the social and economic mainstream that connects us and offers collective hope for our state’s future.
Richard W. Riley is a former member of the South Carolina House and Senate, former governor of South Carolina, and U.S. Secretary of Education.
Dr. Donald L. Gordon, is the executive director of Furman University’s Riley Institute. The institute’s three centers focus on crucial issues that challenge South Carolina, on public education and leadership in an increasingly diverse state.
FEEDBACKLove your South Carolina photos
To the editor:
For the past several years, I have admired and enjoyed the southern photos in your reports. As a visual artist and art teacher, your photos are inspiration for me to do drawing studies in my sketchbook. I love drawing in my own style the old barns, old stores, houses, etc.
The contents of your reports are informative and really share realistic viewpoints of the political, economic and educationally positions of our state and happenings in our Statehouse. For this, I thank you and I am learning to share your website with others.
— Dr. Robert F. Kinard, Ph.D., Lexington High School, Lexington, S.C.
Got a beef? Send us a letter. We love hearing from our readers and encourage you to share your opinions. Letters to the editor are published weekly. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity. We generally publish all comments about South Carolina politics or policy issues, unless they are libelous or unnecessarily inflammatory. One submission is allowed per month. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information.
- Send your letters to: feedback@statehousereport.com
Do the right thing
“I cannot believe that we do not have the heart in this body to do something meaningful — such as take a symbol of hate off these grounds on Friday — and if any of you vote to amend, you are ensuring that this flag will fly beyond Friday. And for the widow of Sen. Pinckney and his two young daughters, that would be adding insult to injury — and I will not be a part of it.
“And for all of these reasons, I will not vote to amend this bill today. We may visit this another session, another year. But if we amend this bill, we are telling the people of Charleston: We don’t care about you. We do not care that someone used this symbol of hate to slay [nine] innocent people who were worshiping their God.”
— State Rep. Jenny Horne, R-Summerville, in a late Wednesday plea with colleagues to take the Confederate flag off the Statehouse dome. More.
Learn more about who we really are
“It’s time to study and learn about who we are and where we came from while finding a way forward without the baggage of our ancestors’ fears and superstitions. It’s time to quit rallying around a flag that divides. And it is time for the South to — dare I say it? — rise up and show our nation what a beautiful place our region is, and what more it could become.”
— Alabama native, writer and musician Patterson Hood of the band, Drive-By Truckers, in The New York Times Magazine, July 9.
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIAKu Klux Klan
S.C. Encyclopedia | The Ku Klux Klan was a paramilitary organization formed during Reconstruction to oppose the Republican Party and restore white supremacy in the South.
Originally founded by former Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest in Tennessee in 1866, it spread to every southern state, including South Carolina, by 1868. Most authorities believe that these organizations were independent of each other, but within South Carolina the Klan clearly showed deference to the leading white Democrats. The Klan, or “Ku-Klux” as it was then called, engaged in a variety of violent actions, such as punishing alleged criminals or settling personal scores, but the vast majority of Klan actions were calculated to weaken the Republican Party by intimidating party leaders. Klansmen often whipped and sometimes killed people they regarded as Republican leaders. Victims of such attacks, or “outrages” in the parlance of the time, were almost always Republicans and were usually African Americans. The Klan was particularly strong in the predominantly white upcountry counties, and York County especially experienced a “reign of terror” in the late 1860s.
The Klan was shrouded in secrecy. Klansmen conducting outrages often went in disguise, the most famous of which consisted of white robes and white conical hoods. Others blackened their faces; still others did not disguise themselves, but rather operated outside their home neighborhoods so as not to be recognized. The suggestion that the white robes evoked superstitious fears in blacks seems to have little empirical justification; if African Americans feared Klansmen, it was not for supernatural reasons. Klansmen were often former Confederate troops, well armed and well trained in combat, and almost always on horseback. Furthermore, they had a well-deserved reputation for ruthlessness.
A typical attack might begin with a late-night raid on the home of a local Republican activist. The worst cases left victims disabled or dead; in other cases only threats were used. Most often the victim would be taken from his house and tortured, often by whipping, and ordered to renounce the Republican Party. Klansmen sometimes confiscated items such as guns or Republican electoral ballots, and they occasionally stole money. There were cases in which wives or children were beaten as well. The most frequent targets, however, were politically active men. Klansmen often justified their actions to the victim, telling him of some wrong he had done; usually the victim’s offense was a transgression against white supremacy. When the victim was white, he was often berated for advocating racial equality; when black, for thinking himself the equal of a white man.
Republicans defended themselves as circumstances permitted. Those who were wealthy or who enjoyed high official positions might arrange to have armed guards protect their homes. Humbler Republicans, on hearing that they were being targeted, might choose to sleep in the woods for a time. Residence in Columbia generally protected state legislators, but at least three (the native white Republicans Solomon Dill, James Martin, and Joseph Crews) were gunned down on highways traveling to or from the capital, and another (Benjamin Franklin Randolph, a mulatto from Ohio) was killed in broad daylight while boarding a train.
Democratic leaders frequently denied both the existence of the Klan and the reality of alleged outrages. When presented with indisputable evidence that attacks had occurred, they typically blamed “a few lawless men” for the violence, denying that there was any widespread conspiracy. Tradition holds that the Klan was populated by poor whites. It is more likely, however, that all strata of society were represented and that leadership in the Klan was provided by members of the gentry. Some known leaders included J. Rufus Bratton and James Avery of York and J. Banks Lyle of Spartanburg; other prominent Democrats, such as David Wyatt Aiken, were accused or even indicted for Klan-related violence. Furthermore, even if they or their sons were not members, many white leaders of the state openly sympathized with those being prosecuted on Ku-Klux charges. Wade Hampton III, Armistead Burt, and other leading citizens used their money and influence to provide the best attorneys possible for alleged Klansmen.
In 1871 and 1872 the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant made a large-scale effort to break the Klan, making an example of South Carolina. Declaring a state of rebellion, the president suspended the writ of habeas corpus in the counties of Spartanburg, Union, York, Chester, Laurens, Newberry, Fairfield, Lancaster, and Chesterfield. Federal prosecutors came south to indict hundreds of accused offenders. The size of the task overwhelmed the justice system, and few Klansmen were convicted. Historians debate the efficacy of the administration’s actions. The Klan as an organization ceased to exist, and many of its leaders fled the state. Nevertheless, political violence continued and eventually toppled the Reconstruction regime.
Another organization called the Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1915 after the success of the film Birth of a Nation, which glorified the Reconstruction Klan. This later Klan added an animus toward Jews and Catholics to the original motivation of preserving white supremacy. The twentieth-century Klan grew to include as many as three million members before it disbanded in the 1940s. Klan groups appeared again during the desegregation crisis of the 1960s and have occasionally been heard from since. The twentieth-century Klan existed in South Carolina but was not as prominent or politically powerful as in other states.
– Excerpted from the entry by Hyman S. Rubin III. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)
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