STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 22.39 | Sept. 29, 2023
BIG STORY: S.C. State Library leaves national library group
MORE NEWS: Trump campaigns in S.C.; Haley, Scott bicker
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: On liberty and freedom
COMMENTARY, Brack: S.C. needs more women in public office
SPOTLIGHT: ACLU of South Carolina
ANOTHER VIEW: Bad governance is just plain bad for all
MYSTERY PHOTO: Identify this old building
FEEDBACK: S.C. is challenged not helpless on maternal care
S.C. State Library leaves national library group
By Andy Brack , updated 10/1/23 | Librarians are learning the S.C. State Library in August quietly notified the national trade association for libraries that the state was not renewing its membership because it felt the group was “tone deaf” on local book bans and other issues.
In an Aug. 21 letter not widely known in public until recent days, agency director Leesa M. Aiken wrote the American Library Association (ALA) that the state library was leaving, in part, because of the group’s “hyper-focus on groups of people at the exclusion of others [that] has been problematic for libraries and has hindered their ability to engage with all members of the communities and government representatives.”
One librarian, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, was shocked by Aiken’s letter: “The South Carolina State Library director’s action is a slap in the face to librarians and library patrons in South Carolina. Is the State Library operating with professional library standards in mind or are they caving to the whims of South Carolina’s elected officials?”
Late Friday, an ALA spokesman said the group met with Aiken on Sept. 28 for a “brief but fruitful discussion.”
“It is unfortunate that the State Library of South Carolina has decided not to renew its ALA membership,” a statement said. “Despite that decision, ALA remains committed to providing essential support, resources, and opportunities for every library and library worker in every state and territory across the nation to help them better serve their communities.”
Red state exodus?
To some, the State Library’s letter appears to be part of a concerted conservative effort to counteract what libraries do. Four days after Aiken’s letter went to the ALA, freshman state Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver disassociated the agency from a 50-year affiliation with the S.C. Association of School Librarians. Among the concerns: how the group spoke out against censorship in libraries.
According to a Sept. 13 story, libraries in red states are pulling out of the ALA because of its defense of challenged books.
Aiken’s letter included a focus on book bans, which are sweeping the nation as it has become more politically polarized: “Guidance which has been provided by ALA concerning book bans, and handling difficult situations locally have quite frankly been tone-deaf and show a lack of understanding of what is happening in the field. … ALA’s action [sic] appear to be activism for certain groups of people and not advocacy for libraries and all of the people they serve.”
In its Sept. 29 statement, the ALA noted that it was a member-driven organization with almost 50,000 members who adopted a “Library Bill of Rights” in 1939 partially out of a concern of suppression of information observed by governments in the 1930s. “Among those principles is, ‘A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background or views.”
Aiken’s criticism of the ALA extended to what she wrote were “inaccurate and slanted” depictions of South Carolina’s library funding: “For the last four years when I have presented my state budget, I have spent at least half of my time answering questions about the actions of ALA and have been unable to focus on my actual budget requests.”
Aiken did not respond to an inquiry on Sept. 29 for more information.
But the ALA said it was successful in working with members to boost state aid to libraries from 2019 to 2023 by $380,757 to a total of $3.02 million.
The S.C. State Library administers federal and state support for libraries in the Palmetto State, including “public library development, library service for state institutions, service for the blind and physically handicapped, and library service to state government agencies,” according to its website.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Trump campaigns in S.C.; Haley, Scott bicker
Staff reports | Former President Donald Trump admired, but didn’t buy, a Glock handgun Monday at a Summerville store during a campaign swing through the Lowcountry.
He also met supporters at a campaign office and toured a boat manufacturing facility, where he spoke. Among other things, he urged Congress to shut down the federal government and claimed he could design a better fighter jet than the military, according to the Associated Press.
New polling suggests the 2024 contest will be a rematch between Trump and current Democratic President Joe Biden, according to The New York Times.
Also this week on Wednesday, former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, both GOP candidates for president, shook off past political comity to attack each other during a rollicking presidential debate marked by a lot of shouting of candidates trying to be relevant.
Neither took aim at former President Donald Trump’s absence from the debate. Haley and Scott instead attacked each other directly and repeatedly during the last 20 minutes of the two-hour debate.
The bickering began when Haley dismissed Scott’s promise to limit spending in Washington by pointing out the increase in the national debt during his time in the Senate. From there, the two argued about everything from Scott’s effectiveness in office to an old story about $52,000 of home curtains reportedly installed during Haley’s tenure as U.N. ambassador.
Overall, pundits found Haley’s performance pretty good and observed Scott reasserted himself.
In other South Carolina News:
Graham talks shutdown, Ukraine during stop in Beaufort. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., discussed the war in Ukraine and efforts to avoid a government shutdown while he was in Beaufort on Tuesday.
Moore, Pendarvis upset with school district. Democratic S.C. Reps. J.A. Moore and Marvin Pendarvis, both of the Charleston area, say they are disappointed and angry after the Charleston County School District (CCSD) Board of Trustees on Monday voted to place new Superintendent Eric Gallien on administrative leave. The 5-4 decision was met with immediate backlash across the community, including some board members on the losing side of the vote. On Friday, 16 high school principals said they were disappointed in the school board’s actions and behavior.
Thornley to retire from Trident Tech after 50 years. Trident Technical College President Mary Thornley, the college’s fifth and longest-serving president, has announced she would retire June 1.
Biden blocks GOP move to strip S.C.-native bat from endangered list. President Joe Biden used his veto power to block a move by Republicans that would have stripped federal protections from the northern long-eared bat, which is found in South Carolina.
On liberty and freedom
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail generally has a biting or funny comment about the great state of South Carolina in his weekly cartoon. This week, he takes on groups like Moms for Liberty and the S.C. Freedom Caucus. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
S.C. needs more women in public office
By Andy Brack | If there’s one thing you hear more these days from women across South Carolina, it’s this: “I am sick and tired of men telling us what to do – what to do with our bodies, what to do with our brains, what to do with our lives.”
So more women are getting active. If they win more elections, South Carolina will be better off.
“We need to ask more women to step into political roles,” said Columbia nonprofit leader Barbara Rackes, whose S.C. Women in Leadership (SCWIL) organization honored seven women leaders at a Tuesday dinner.
Among those in attendance were the state’s five women state senators – three Republicans, one independent and one Democrat – who banded together to fight a six-week abortion ban in recent years. Their stance recently won them a major national recognition – the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award.
“This year’s Profile in Courage Awards honor leaders who took stands of conscience and risked their careers by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing,” said Caroline Kennedy, the ambassador to Australia who is daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy. “The women of the South Carolina Senate set an example for those seeking justice and individual freedom at all levels of government.”
This week, SCWIL also honored these “sister senators” – Republicans Katrina Shealy of Lexington, Sandy Senn of Charleston, Penny Gustafson of Camden, as well as Independent Mia McLeod of Columbia and Margie Bright Matthews of Walterboro – with the 2023 Leadership Legacy Award.
Cribbing from a saying by Eleanor Roosevelt, Matthews told the 300+ attendees how women can get things done for South Carolina: “A woman is like a tea bag. You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”
She and her colleagues bonded over restrictive proposals for abortion, even though they had slightly different positions on the issue.
“We got sick of being told [by men] in committee meetings that women just use abortion as a form of birth control,” Matthews said. “We got sick of being told that women just slaughter their children. So we went to our regular meeting place – in the bathroom.” And as they bonded, they realized there were other big issues – women’s health care needs, birth control and a “patriarchal oligarchy” that tries to keep women on the sidelines.
In South Carolina, women are grossly underrepresented in the Statehouse. Despite slightly more than half of the people in South Carolina being women, just 15 percent are elected to the House and Senate. That’s the second worst rate in the nation. Throughout the state in other elected and appointed positions, women are also underrepresented.
“We need to fix that – we really do,” Senn said.
Shealy, who first won election in 2012 to become the first woman senator in the chamber at the time, added, “We do agree on the basic issue that women have rights just like men do.”
Barbara Melvin, president and CEO of the S.C. State Ports Authority in Charleston, received SCWIL’s 2023 Leading Woman recognition and the group named state Rep. Heather Bauer, D-Richland, as its rising star.
Melvin said more women needed to be in leadership roles in all areas – business, government, education and more. Why? Because diversity provides different perspectives that create better outcomes.
“It helps you see things differently and come to a better decision,” she said.
For South Carolina to do better and more for all of her citizens, let’s hope more women run for office in 2024 and remove misogynistic men and their outdated values. Maybe then, we can start getting better, more considerate and collaborative decisions, big and small.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
ACLU of South Carolina
The ACLU of South Carolina is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil liberties and civil rights enshrined in the United States and South Carolina Constitutions. Working in the courts, legislature, and communities, we fight for racial justice, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ equality, voting rights, criminal legal reform, and much more. The ACLU stands up for these rights even when the cause is unpopular, and sometimes when nobody else will.
- More: www.aclusc.org
Bad governance is just plain bad for everyone
Editor’s Note: This editorial appeared Sept. 29 in the Charleston City Paper.
Once upon a time, South Carolina prided itself on pretty good governance at the local and state levels. In Washington, there were seasoned Republicans and Democrats who worked together to build the nation. Sure, there were some hiccups along the way — a bribery scandal in the early 1990s and a few bad ideas here and there.
But what was pretty good governance no longer seems to be the norm in a political environment marked from top to bottom with bitterness, enmity, foul temperaments, division and anti-government rhetoric that pillories the common good and common sense of compromise, fairness, truth and real public service.
Much of today’s raw political climate emanates from Washington after the disastrous presidential term of former President Donald Trump, who fueled maniacal chaos with a narcissistic, negative approach to governing.
Just look today at the lackluster performance of the U.S. House of Representatives where divided Republican leadership is snowballing the nation toward a federal government shutdown. Ridiculous.
Just look at the South Carolina Statehouse where a “Freedom Caucus” fights to push narrow, conservative bills and cause schisms in the kind of blatant grab for power that has made Washington a political mess. In this issue of the City Paper, cartoonist Robert Ariail wryly observes that groups with “freedom” or “liberty” in their name often seem to try to take away freedom and liberty from anyone who doesn’t believe like they do. Ridiculous.
Just look at MAGA zealots who fly flags that say “F*ck Joe Biden,” such as those flapping off pickup trucks and boats. There’s even one along a fence on U.S. Highway 17 in Ravenel that school children ride by daily to get to an elementary school less than a mile away. Again, ridiculous.
And just look at the Charleston County School District Board of Trustees where dysfunction reigns supreme. A Sept. 25 meeting was one of the most embarrassing public displays of no leadership that we’ve ever seen. The right-wing Moms-for-Liberty-backed majority of the board voted to put the new county superintendent, who it approved less than three months ago, on administrative leave pending an investigation which is secret. Again, this board continues to conduct public business in private in violation of state law. Ridiculous.
As one of the trustees in the minority observed, “This is unacceptable. I’ve never seen anything like this before.” But what’s truly unacceptable is how too many public officials don’t respect the rule of law and true public service dedicated to everyone.
It’s time to get back to good governance. It would be smart for all elected officials to complete a course in how to govern, instead of pushing narrow political agendas and wearing blinders to the dozens of people who attend meetings to figure out what no-good they’re up to.
To those who monitor what these public officials are doing — keep up the good work. Keep sounding the alarm. And get people who don’t vote organized so they can kick out the bums. The next election isn’t as far away as they may think.
Identify this old building
Here’s a good mystery building somewhere in South Carolina in a photo from more than 50 years ago. Where is it? Send us your guess of what this photo shows – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s mystery photo, “Lots of columns,” showed a home in Bishopville known as “The Manor.” Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, notes: “Originally owned by Edward Wilson Tisdale (1864 – 1960), a successful cotton merchant from Sumter. Shortly after Tisddale moved from Sumter to Bishopville, he hired architect James Herbert Johnson (1881 – 1959), also from Sumter, to design his new home, a two-story, neo-classical manor built between 1914 and 1918.”
Longtime sleuth Frank Bouknight, a native of Bishopville, recalled “Woodrow Tisdale lived there when he taught music to the white children in Bishopville schools.”
Hats off to these other sleuths who identified it: Jay Altman, Julie DesChamps and Elizabeth Jones, all of Columbia; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Pat Keadle of Wagener; Bill Segars and Don Clark, both of Hartsville; Jacie Godfrey of Florence; and David Lupo of Mount Pleasant.
>> 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.
S.C. is challenged, but not helpless on maternal care
To the editor:
In South Carolina, 30 percent of counties have no OBGYN and the average distance to a family health practitioner is 37 miles – about the distance from Charleston to Ridgeville. Considering these figures, it’s no surprise that rural counties experienced by and far the worst infant mortality rates in 2021.
As the leader of our state’s contraceptive access initiative, which serves women across South Carolina, I see the challenges of serving a rural state every day. But we’re not helpless.
To improve outcomes for mothers and infants, women and their partners must be empowered to plan for and time their pregnancies; for this to happen, access to contraception is key. For seven years, my organization has worked to bring family planning counseling and free and low-cost birth control to all South Carolinians who need it. For the more than 440,000 women our 150 participating clinics have served, pregnancy is planned, on their terms, should they choose to become pregnant in the future.
We also need to meet women where they are with expanded telehealth services. Our NoDrama.org website educates South Carolinians about birth control and offers women, including those in rural communities, an opportunity to schedule virtual family planning appointments – and have their preferred contraceptive method shipped to their door.
Much has been written about our state’s maternal and infant mortality crises. Now it’s time for leaders to act.
– Bonnie Kapp, president and CEO of New Morning, Columbia
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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.
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