STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 22.08 | FEB. 24, 2023
NEWS: Shining light on S.C.’s racial legacy
NEWS BRIEFS: Murdaugh denies killing wife, son during Thursday testimony
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Just say no
COMMENTARY, Brack: Race for governor in 2026 already underway
SPOTLIGHT: Charleston County Animal Society
FEEDBACK: Send us your letters, thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Woodsy scene
Shining light on S.C.’s racial legacy
Staff reports | Progressives will offer a series of Monday evening lectures starting March 5 to shine the light on South Carolina’s legacy of racism.
During a time when culture wars are being fought in state courts about how South Carolina’s history of race is taught in public schools, the Modjeska Simkins School of Human Rights matters more than ever, said Brett Bursey of Columbia. He is executive director of the school’s sponsor, the S.C. Progressive Network Education Fund. Launched in 2015, the school is named for human rights advocate Modjeska Monteith Simkins (1899-1992), a celebrated human rights advocate in South Carolina.
Bursey said Republican lawmakers in red states like South Carolina are aggressively attacking public education with legislation about “critical race theory,” even though it isn’t part of South Carolina’s curriculum. Last year, civil rights and education groups testified against several CRT bills that made erroneous claims about how students are taught history. The battle continues this year.
“The self-titled Freedom Caucus put a proviso into the state budget that prohibits public school teachers from making white students uncomfortable about learning South Carolina’s historic and continuing problem with racism,” Bursey said. “They accuse public school teachers of indoctrinating students with socialist ideals, and are mounting a full-on assault on public education.”
Spring classes run March 5 to June 26
The “Modjeska School” offers Monday classes that teach South Carolina’s uncensored and sometimes painful history about race, according to a press release. It also provides tools for effective citizenship.
Classes will be held online and at the SC Progressive Network’s HQ at 1340 Elmwood Ave. in Columbia, next to Simkins’ historic home.
Bursey said the intensive course is a unique education crafted specifically for South Carolinians to help them better understand and navigate the state’s particular culture and political landscape. It is facilitated by a roster of noted historians, writers, lawyers and seasoned community activists.
Dr. Burnette Gallman, a Columbia doctor who teaches African history, took the course twice, and is a presenter this session.
“As the lies and the assault on truth continue, the Modjeska School is a breath of fresh air,” he said. “It provides a correction of the lies that have been told in schools for generations, as well as a firewall against the lies being legislated today. Everyone should take this course.”
Claflin University assistant professor Robert Greene II is the school’s lead instructor.
“The school continues a long and storied tradition of linking civics, political action, and life-long learning,” Greene said in a statement. “Such a history does emphasize the nature of oppression in the Palmetto State’s history, but the school equally teaches the spirit of justice, freedom, and equality that so many in South Carolina have fought for through the centuries. In an age like ours where teaching true history is under attack, the Modjeska Simkins School represents a different path for teaching and learning history.”
The school is now accepting applications to its spring 2023 session. Classes will be held Monday evenings online and at the SC Progressive Network’s Columbia headquarters, 1340 Elmwood Ave.
- Have a comment? Send to feedback@statehousereport.com
Murdaugh denies killing wife, son during testimony
Staff reports | Disbarred former lawyer Alex Murdaugh took the witness stand Thursday in his own defense in his double murder trial that is making international headlines. He emotionally denied killing his wife and younger son.
But Murdaugh admitted to stealing from clients and pocketing a check that was meant for his law firm, actions revealed by prosecutors earlier in the trial, which today will be in its 24th day in Colleton County.
Murdaugh also admitted to lying about his whereabouts the night of murders, confessing that he was at the kennels where the victims were found. He insisted the paranoia from a painkiller addiction led him to lie about his movements that night.
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave,” he said about lying and stealing. “Once I told a lie — then I told my family — I had to keep lying.”
In other news this week:
Scott tests presidential waters. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican from the Lowcountry, was in Iowa Wednesday delivering a faith-based message of “a new American sunrise” that deviates from his possible rivals who have focused more on railing against cultural divides. Politico described the speech as Scott dipping his toes in the 2024 presidential waters. According to The Washington Post, “he described the country as beset by misery and hopelessness, with citizens consuming the ’empty calories of anger’ and politicians hooking voters on ‘the drug of victimhood and the narcotic of despair.’ He blamed Democrats and liberals, whom he accused of peddling a ‘blueprint to ruin America,’ while calling out President Biden for ‘living in the past’ and accusing him of exploiting the nation’s history of racial oppression for political ends.”
Haley’s 2024 candidacy tests GOP sexism and gender politics. Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential candidacy is testing the GOP’s resolve on sexism and how female candidates can show strength, according to this analysis. She recently campaigned in New Hampshire.
S.C. Democratic Party chair won’t seek reelection. S.C. Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson will not seek another term in office and declared support for former state party Executive Director Christale Spain to succeed him.
S.C. House OKs permitless carry of handguns. The S.C. House voted Wednesday to allow lawful firearm owners to carry handguns openly or concealed without a state permit. The bill will be passed onto the Senate, who rejected a similar proposal two years ago.
S.C. Senate OKs shield law for lethal injections. The South Carolina Senate passed on Wednesday a law shielding the identity of pharmaceutical companies providing lethal injection drugs for state executions. The move is the lawmakers latest attempt in an effort to resume capital punishment after 12 years without administering the death penalty.
S.C. Senate advances bill to help parents pay private tuition with tax credits. A bill allowing up to $55 million in tax credits to help parents pay for private K-12 tuition is advancing in the South Carolina Senate.
North Charleston, county officials grapple with schools. Charleston County School District superintendent Don Kennedy said he wants to meet with North Charleston officials to talk about a proposal for the city to leave the district and form its own school system. Meanwhile, state Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, a Democrat considering a run for North Charleston mayor, says he’s going to file a bill to split off the city’s schools.
Eckstrom warned of problems, auditors say. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom was warned he had weak internal controls in producing his office’s yearly reports on the state’s financial health, according to state Auditor George Kennedy.
Use of ‘disorderly conduct’ law in schools ruled unconstitutional. A 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld a lower court ruling that found the South Carolina’s “disorderly conduct” law in K-12 public schools is unconstitutionally vague when applied in schools, depriving students of their 14th Amendment due process rights.
Nurses exhausted under weight of the pandemic. Nurses across the country are feeling worn out, according to a study from the American Nurses Foundation, and Lowcountry nurses concur. Meanwhile, recent state data show that 44 people died from Covid in the week ending Feb. 18 and another 4,100 people have the virus.
S.C. lawmaker pushes for hate crime law. S.C. Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, is continuing his ongoing pursuit to make South Carolina the 49th state with a hate crime law.
S.C. leaders launch collaborative to connect rural areas to internet. South Carolina officials are working across the aisle to soon travel the state in an effort to get every home and business connected to high-speed internet services. Next week, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected in Columbia to discuss better internet.
Another record-breaking year for S.C. tourism set in 2022. The financial impact of the state tourism industry hit a new high in 2022, climbing more than 11 percent to $29 billion as the hospitality business continued to benefit from pent-up demand after the pandemic.
Just say no
If you haven’t been keeping up lately with the news from Beaufort County, developers want to carve up part of historic St. Helena Island. It’s pretty clear where cartoonist Robert Ariail stands. He often interprets things a little differently, but always has an interesting take on what’s going on. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Race for governor in 2026 already underway
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | All you have to do to know that the race to be the GOP candidate for governor in 2026 has already started is to answer this question: Why is state Attorney General Alan Wilson constantly at the double murder trial of disbarred lawyer Alex Murdaugh?
Just watch and you’ll see he’s not doing much of anything to help the prosecution. So day after day, he’s just posing – politically grandstanding for the state and national media to look like he’s intimately involved.
Even without the trial, Wilson, whose office wouldn’t answer questions about why he was continually at the trial, would be a top potential candidate for governor in 2026. Current GOP Gov. Henry McMaster is now a lame duck after just starting his second full term. So his position will be open in just under four years.
So while it’s early to start looking at 2026 candidates, Wilson’s ongoing media presence kind of begs a look at what happens when McMaster hangs it up. Besides Wilson, here are possible gubernatorial candidates:
Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette. While the Upstate businesswoman just started her second term as the state’s number two leader in the executive branch, most people outside of GOP stalwarts aren’t very familiar with her. Look for her to ratchet up her presence over the next couple of years if she is planning a serious bid for the top job.
State Sen. Shane Massey. The 47-year-old state Senate majority leader from Edgefield County checks off a lot of boxes for an ideal GOP candidate. He’s relatively young. He has 14 years of experience in the legislature. And he courts the red meat contingent of the Republican Party with support for conservative causes, such as figuring out ways to make abortions illegal. But while he may flirt with running for governor because it’s a neat job, you wonder whether he’d want to give up the considerable time invested in garnering power in the legislature – since the General Assembly has the real power in this state. If Massey waited a few years, he could control the Senate agenda even more than he now influences it.
John Warren. The Greenville businessman who challenged McMaster in 2018 easily could self-fund another campaign for governor. Since his narrow runoff loss five years ago, he’s continued to build credibility among the GOP base by pushing conservative measures on education, accountability, judges and abortion through a political action committee, South Carolina’s Conservative Future. Warren didn’t run in 2022, but he’s kept his name in the mix to be a potential contender in 2026.
One of the Freedom Cause firebrands. There are more than a dozen state lawmakers in the fiery, ultra-right House Freedom Caucus. More than likely one or more of them will take their big heads to the people across the state in an attempt to make it even bigger. There’s not a particular one of them who has yet distinguished himself yet, but these folks have got more than three years to flame out or try to mask their nuttiness to keep from scaring mainstream voters.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott. While the Lowcountry Republican currently is flirting with running for president, it’s not beyond the possibility that he may decide to throw his hat in the governor’s race in 2026. One political observer told us, “I’ve always assumed he was more interested in state politics than national. Maybe all the encouragement to run for national office has changed that, but I still think the state job would interest him.” And maybe something that would really interest him is if he were to run with his buddy Trey Gowdy, the former congressman from the Upstate, as his running mate.
Whatever happens in 2026, the lead-up to the governor’s race certainly will be interesting … and it’s likely to show new fissures in the Republican Party as McMaster relaxes a grip on it that he’s had since he was chairman in the 1990s.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Charleston County Animal Society
We’re pleased today to shine our spotlight on the Charleston Animal Society, leader in the effort to make Charleston County a safe place for animals. Now the society is working to expand its Charleston success statewide to energize the state to reshape its 300-plus shelters and animal organizations into a no-kill network that stretches from Walhalla to Little River to Daufuskie Island.
Safe and healthy communities, neighborhoods and families don’t just happen – they’re built. “No Kill – No Harm – No More” shines a spotlight on animal abuse and family violence, which are often perceived and treated as separate issues. However, animal abuse is often the tip of the iceberg to larger issues in the home, such as child abuse, elder abuse or domestic violence.
- South Carolina’s most honored charity four years in a row
- National model for success
- Southeast’s only AAHA-accredited combined clinic and shelter
- Focused on solving problems rather than reacting to them year after year
- Publishes Carolina Tails, the largest pet magazine in S.C.
- No Kill. No Harm. No More. is a “movement” comprised of two major initiatives: No Kill Charleston and No Kill South Carolina.
- Learn more about the Charleston Animal Society and its work to create a network of humane network for the animals that bring joy to our lives.
- FEEDBACK
Send us your thoughts
We encourage you to send in your thoughts about policy and politics impacting South Carolina. We’ve gotten some letters in the last few weeks – some positive, others nasty. We print non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your thoughts.
Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
Woodsy scene
A reader sent in this photo about three weeks ago. Where is it? We bet if you go there today, you’d see some early flowers and tree buds starting to pop. Send us your guess – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s photo, “Looks like paradise,” was “Bloody Point Beach” on Daufuskie Island, which Elizabeth Jones of Columbia reminds us is “between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, Georgia. It’s rich in Gullah history. After Pat Conroy served a teacher there, he wrote about his experience in The Water Is Wide. This book was made into a movie starring Jon Voight.”
Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, shared: “At approximately five miles long and 2.5-miles wide, it is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is only accessible by boat, and is home to fewer than 400 permanent residents. Walking, biking and cruising in golf carts are the most popular modes of transportation along Daufuskie’s mostly dirt and sand roads — cars aren’t even allowed on the small public ferry.>
Others who correctly identified the photo were Jay Altman of Columbia; Jacie Godfrey of Florence; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Pat Keadle of Wagener; and Don Clark of Hartsville.
>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
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