STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 22.48 | Dec. 1, 2023
BIG STORY: S.C. celebrates 250th anniversary of the first tea party
NEWS BRIEFS: S.C. teacher shortage reaches high for another year
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Plucked, smoked, roasted, fried and carved
COMMENTARY, Brack: On America’s hollow vigor
SPOTLIGHT: ACLU of South Carolina
ANOTHER VIEW: S.C. GOP should dump Trump, back Haley
MYSTERY PHOTO: Seven gables
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
S.C. celebrates 250th anniversary of 1st tea party
By Andy Brack and Chloe Hogan | There’s a big tea party in Charleston on Sunday, but you won’t have to hold out your pinky. Instead, wave a flag during this special anniversary celebrating colonial revolutionary fervor that first came two weeks before the famous Boston Tea Party.
Two hundred fifty years ago on Sunday, Charlestonians committed an act of defiance against the British crown by refusing to import 257 chests of tea aboard the ship London, which anchored in the harbor on Dec. 2, 1773.
The next day, Charleston colonists held a community-wide meeting to talk about what to do about the tea. It was subject to a tax the British Parliament imposed to send a message that it “had the right to tax the colonists,” according to the late South Carolina historian George Rogers in a 1974 article in the South Carolina Historical Magazine. Colonists knew if they paid the tax, they’d essentially be admitting Parliament could tax them. And after years of debate about taxation without representation, they just couldn’t cotton to that.
Despite clashing interests of planters, merchants and “mechanics,” or tradesmen, the colonists resolved in the Great Hall of the Old Exchange Building on that December day 250 years ago to not import the tea to facilitate the British raising money via taxes. As a community, they rejected the tea and refused to import it in the future.
And therein lies the significance of the Charleston Tea Party — it represented the “seeds of self-government in these revolutionary mobs,” according to historian Pauline Maier in Rogers’ article. “By the time of the crisis over tea, these had become the General Meetings of the Inhabitants — a kind of New England town meeting.”
So 13 days before the less tepid Boston Tea Party where tea was dumped in the harbor, Charleston had its own tea party — an event that laid the groundwork for the Revolution that was to come.
And what happened to the 257 chests of tea in Charleston? By law, the collector of customs seized the tea on Dec. 22, 1773 and stored it in the Exchange’s cellar. Later in 1776, the tea was sold to help finance the Revolutionary War effort by South Carolina patriots.
A reenactment, 250 years later
Charleston will commemorate the 1773 Charleston Tea Party Saturday in a theatrical reenactment that is part of a multi-year commemoration of the American Revolution locally and throughout South Carolina. The formalities will include bells ringing from St. Michael’s Church at 9:15 a.m., followed by a free outdoor theatrical reenactment of the 1773 meet at the Old Exchange Building at 11 a.m.
Katherine Pemberton, director of The Powder Magazine, called the reenactment the “centerpiece” of the local commemorative celebration. She collaborated with Mount Pleasant-based theater director Pamela Ward, who also happens to be an expert on tea, to create a script which Pemberton said is half play and half reenactment.
The performance will be interactive for the crowd, which will be interspersed by costumed “townspeople,” Pemberton said. “We’re hoping that the crowd who shows up will feel like they’re in the event, like they’re a part of it, and will chant along with us, ‘No taxation without representation!’ ”
After the 30-minute performance, attendees will be invited to tour the basement of the Exchange where the tea was stored and to partake of some hot tea provided by Oliver Pluff & Co.
You can get into The Powder Magazine for free on Dec. 2 and 3. It will offer a temporary exhibit on 18th century tea that will be in place through December. There will also be free tours available of the schooner Pride, which will be docked at the marina, and at the Heyward Washington House as a part of the 250th celebration.
- For the full schedule and more details, check out powdermagazinemuseum.org/chas250.
- A longer version of this story first appeared in the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
S.C. teacher shortage reaches high for another year
Staff reports | South Carolina now has more open teaching jobs than ever before, according to the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement.
According to its latest report, there were 1,613 unfilled K-12 educator jobs at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. That’s a 10% increase from the 1,474 openings reported a year ago – and more than double of the 699 openings three years ago.
The shortage has teachers worried, according to the S.C. Education Association..
“Stopping the educator shortage is one of our most important priorities,” said SCEA President Sherry East. “Each of these vacancies represent a classroom in which students are left without the highly-qualified and credentialed educators they deserve.”
The group added that for the 2023-2024 school year, public school districts in South Carolina reported 7,353 teacher departures. The previous year there were 8,321.
“The existing teacher shortage continues to be a five-alarm fire,” East said. “Our legislature’s highest priority must be meaningfully addressing this crisis. Our elected officials need to listen to educators, improve our working conditions, and take meaningful, substantive action to recruit and retain quality educators. Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions, and South Carolina children deserve the best conditions we can provide.”
Meanwhile this week, S.C. Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver proposed teacher pay bumps of $1,500a year to every cell of the state’s minimum teachers’ salary schedule. But the proposed boost came with a catch – school districts would have to add five more days to a teacher’s school year.
In other South Carolina news:
Williamson to campaign across state. Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson knows she’s not likely to win the S.C. presidential primary in February, particularly since President Joe Biden locked in his eventual nomination here in 2020. But that’s not stopping her from spreading the message that the country needs big change to heal economic injustice. Williamson, who has written several popular books often described as self-help guides, will be in Charleston 6 p.m. Friday for a talk at Buxton Books. She’ll also meet, greet and campaign in Beaufort on Saturday, Myrtle Beach on Sunday, Columbia and Rock Hill on Monday, and Clemson on Tuesday.
Haley gets important national support. Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign got a huge boost Tuesday ahead of the Republican primary, as Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network, formally endorsed her. The group is expected to provide a big influx of money and support as she seeks to win the party’s nomination over former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile in a Bluffton rally this week, Haley told supporters that the nation didn’t need the chaos that follows the frontrunner, Trump.
Trump attends Palmetto Bowl as billboards taunt visit. Former President Donald Trump attended Saturday’s USC-Clemson football game as he and thousands of fans encountered seven electronic billboards around Columbia highlighting an anti-Trump message: “You lost. You’re guilty. Welcome to Columbia, Donald.” At the game, Trump got cheers and a few boos, according to the Associated Press.
Thanksgiving weekend was filled with gun violence. Media across the state reported several deaths due to guns since Thanksgiving, including a deadly Sunday afternoon shooting in which a North Charleston man died inside his home. A 30-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder. Other fatalities included a 6-year-old Orangeburg child in a hunting accident; another person in an alleged accidental shooting death in Laurens County; one person in Richland County; one in Greenville; and another in Florence. At least seven others were hurt over the long weekend in shootings across the state, according to media reports.
S.C. business leaders warn of affordable child care shortage. The Council for a Strong America and Ready Nation on behalf of state business leaders reported South Carolina’s current child care system falls well short of the needs of Palmetto State employers and their workers, many of whom do not have access to child care. The study also reported a $1 billion loss annually for the state due to lack of childcare.
City of Charleston to address ‘loophole’ in plastic bag ban. Charleston is in the process of closing what they call a loophole to their ban on single-use plastic bags by clarifying the differences between a reusable plastic bag and single-use plastic bag.
Lowcountry judge to not serve 2nd term after failed selection vote. A Lowcountry judge who’s come under fire for lenient sentences and bond decisions will not serve a second term on the bench after he did not get enough votes to move forward in the judicial selection process.
Plucked, smoked, roasted, fried and carved
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 offers a pictorial commentary that commiserates with the 2023 football season of the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, who lost to Clemson 16-7 on Saturday in the annual Palmetto Bowl.
- Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
America’s vigor is half-full, half-empty glass
By Andy Brack | The vitality of the United States heading into the 2024 elections seems to be a half full-half empty proposition.
On the plus side, numerous indicators show the health and backbone of the country to be strong. But on the minus side, numerous indicators show big problems for most Americans. So let’s take a look at what’s happening.
Most powerful country on Earth
The United States continues to be the most powerful country on the planet in terms of its overall economy, military and prowess in fields of technology, education and research. Additionally, it is the world’s most culturally significant country with what a U.S. News & World Report ranking calls an “imprint [that] spans the world, led in large part by its popular culture expressed in music, movies and television.”
Among its top rankings compared to dozens of countries across the world, the U.S. and its market with a $25.5 trillion in gross domestic product is ranked first in economic agility for, among other things, being economically dynamic, modern and progressive.
It’s also first in entrepreneurship, power, education, international influence and being forward thinking, according to the rankings. It’s second for investing and being the best place to study abroad, and it’s third in cultural influence. Overall, it’s ranked the fifth top country when all factors are balanced. Ahead of the U.S. are Switzerland (1), Canada (2), Sweden (3) and Australia (4) in overall rankings.
But big issues drag us down
But across society, there are other big issues which keep our country from being first overall, including:
Open for business. While the country scores high for not being corrupt (95 on a 100 point score), it’s expensive to manufacture things (0.2 score) and scores low on having a favorable tax environment (17.2) and good government transparency (25).
Quality of life. This overall metric is mixed with high scores for having a great job market (96) and being economically stable (82), but it is not considered affordable (8) or safe (12) and has a lot of income inequality (12). Compared to other countries, the United States ranks 23rd in quality of life.
Adventure. The United States is ranked 33rd in adventure, which includes scores on a 100-point scale on being fun (66), friendly (41) and sexy (11 ).
Social purpose. Perhaps of more concern is the discrepancy in how the nation scores on indicators of social purpose. It scores relatively high for religious freedom (85 of 100) and respect for property rights (71), but low on caring about the environment and climate (18) and racial equity (11).
Democratic presidential candidate and author Marianne Williamson this week complained that negative factors the country faces on everything from gun violence to racial inequities and economic unevenness, has been hollowing out past advances.
More than a million everyday Americans, she said in an interview this week, are rationing insulin to try to keep their health. A third of America’s workers live on less than $15 per hour, she said. And college costs are soaring. Forty years ago, for example, a full semester at a good public college cost less than $500 per semester.
“The problem is that democracy is not delivering on its promises in such forms as universal health care, tuition, free college and so forth,” she said, comparing the United States to other first-world democracies. “I think that the hollowing out of the American middle class over the last 50 years proves that that theory [of putting short-term profits over people] did not work.”
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
S.C. GOP should dump Trump, back Haley
Charleston City Paper | Demosthenes, the Greek statesman in ancient Athens,had a saying that applies today: “Every dictator is an enemy of freedom, an opponent of law.”
It’s something for Republicans to remember as former President Donald Trump tries to woo primary voters to cast their lot with him, despite years of lies, corruption, financial shenanigans, conspiracy theories, mistreatment of women and outright bullying. It’s almost inconceivable that this narcissist who rallied a mob to insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is being taken seriously in our democracy, especially since he faces 91 felony counts in four cases ranging from trying to overturn the 2020 election and falsifying business records to obstructing justice and mishandling classified information.
Now there are new fears about Trump’s authoritarian leanings as the former president recently echoed the language of leaders who rose to power in Germany and Italy in the 1930s. Hear what he said on Veterans Day in New Hampshire:
“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections. They’ll do anything, whether legally or illegally, to destroy America and to destroy the American Dream.”
Wrong. Trump is the one who is an enemy of America with his heartless rhetoric and anti-freedom agenda. Dictators like Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy used words like “vermin” to dehumanize opponents and encourage violence, scholars write. And now
comes Trump, spewing the same kind of vitriol, fear, grievance and retribution.
Republican voters should be appalled. These are not the words of a normal American president, a sane Republican or Democrat who truly leads and tries to promote the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness of all Americans. These are the words of a dangerous despot echoing the fascist rhetoric of Nazi Germany.
Now is the time for GOP voters to reject Trump and turn their support to a conservative, impassioned candidate who seemed like the only grown-up in the room in recent presidential debates — former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley.
We don’t agree much with the worldview or overall politics of Haley. But she doesn’t want to harm America. Haley, now as when she was governor, is unquestionably ambitious, obviously desirous of more attention and power. But she wants America to heal from the division, fear and cruelty of the Trump years. She’s pro-freedom unlike Trump who says he wants to make America great but seems to do everything to keep stirring a nefarious pot.
Haley told a Bluffton crowd this week: “I agree with a lot of his policies, but the truth is, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. We have too much division in this country and too many threats around the world to be sitting in chaos once again.”
Haley is right in noting that if Trump were to be elected to a second term, the pillage of freedom and dysfunction in the country would continue.
Trump has toppled over the edge and deserves to go to jail, not to the White House. Haley deserves to be the 2024 candidate to challenge President Joe Biden.
Editor’s note: This editorial was first published in the Charleston City Paper.
Seven gables
This building has a lot of gables. Please identify it and tell us a little about it. Send us your guess of what this photo shows – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Thirty people correctly identified last week’s mystery, “Star,” which is a marker on the S.C. Statehouse where a cannonball hit during Sherman’s raid on Columbia in 1865. Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, provided an explanation: “These stars were placed by the S.C. General Assembly in 1929 to denote the location of the damage done to the granite walls that was caused by Union artillery fire on Feb. 16, 1865, shortly before the city surrendered to General William T. Sherman, and while the building was still under construction.”
Congratulations also to: Susan Richardson of Cherry Grove; Steve Willis of Lancaster; Will Bradley of Las Vegas, Nevada; Jay Altman, Elizabeth Jones, Mary Bostick, John Hart and Karen Ingram, all of Columbia; Bill Segars, Don Clark and Michael Webb, all of Hartsville; Craig White of Greenwood; Lawrence Moore of Folly Beach; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Frank Bouknight and Daniel Prohaska, both of Summerville; Jacie Godfrey and Barry Wingard, both of Florence; Will Williams of Aiken; David Lupo of Mount Pleasant; Gil Bulman of Spartanburg; Pat Keadle of Wagener; Charles Ford and Sean Keefer, both of Charleston; Randy Herald of Lexington; Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla.; David Taylor of Darlington; Lisa Griffin of Tega Cay; and Ann Nolte.
- 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.
Two like the Tim Scott cartoon
To the cartoonist:
I totally agree with you. Tim Scott is too good to be President. He has high morals and would be wasted in the office. Let’s keep him as a Senator and keep some good in D.C.
– Pat Keadle, Wagener, S.C.
To the editor:
Ariail is still my #1 political cartoonist. He never disappoints and usually is the mirror image of how I think about the strange situations we are faced with.
– Miriam Mitchell, Seabrook, S.C.
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.
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