My fellow white folks invent new and creative ways to turn every situation about black pain and suffering into a story of white triumph. Such is the case with the response to the slaughter of nine people in Charleston. It started early with hash tags that called for prayers for all of Charleston, a stunning attempt by the city's whites to add themselves to cabal of victims rather than taking responsibility for their role in support a white supremacist state that helped to shape the ideology of the killer. Now, we're seeing something more disgusting and perhaps less surprising, as average white folks and politicians alike have begun to compare Charleston to Baltimore and Ferguson, attempting to show how "good" Charleston is on race by insulting black people in other parts of the country.
Representative Mick Mulvaney is probably the worst of the offenders, though he is certainly not alone. In a Facebook post published June 23rd, Mulvaney attempted to equivocate on the position of the traitorous Rebel Flag, writing:
And my initial reaction to calls to summarily remove the flag was that such an action would be tantamount to admitting what is not true for many South Carolinians: that the flag is a symbol of hate. Yes, it was for Dylann Roof. In fact, for him it was something even more evil than just hate. But we typically do not allow such people to define what our symbols mean.
Mulvaney goes on to heap blame on himself for not understanding that the flag represents hatred to "some." His attempts to draw sympathy might be convincing to someone living outside of the state. But when you've been a 12-year old in South Carolina during the original Rebel Flag debates, and when you've people very close to you talk cheerfully about lynching while wearing shirts that say, "Fly it High!" you're unable to fathom that a seemingly literate member of the legislature never knew that the flag represented hate.
Mulvaney then turns to doing what many people around the state are now doing. It amounts to one giant pat on the back in the wake of this tragedy, a giant "Look at Me! Look at Me!" to the rest of the world, hoping to convince outsiders that South Carolina is some racial utopia where black and white come together in harmony. South Carolina, they say, is a model for what should be done in the wake of tragedy. Mulvaney writes:
Finally, I will say this: there is no Confederate flag flying at the state capitol in Missouri, yet Ferguson had race riots; there is no Confederate flag flying at the state capitol in Maryland, yet Baltimore had race riots. There is a Confederate flag flying on the grounds of the state capitol in South Carolina, yet Charleston set an example for the world to marvel at in its response to this atrocity. And of that, I am extraordinarily proud. Perhaps those who are now trying to focus attention on the flag are spending their time on the wrong things.
There's no worse way to suggest that South Carolina, and you, get it on race than to hurl insults at the black community at large, lauding your own efforts while misunderstanding the pain and frustration of people in Ferguson and Baltimore. Mulvaney certainly fails to realize that his own black community in Charleston marched in response to both the events in Ferguson and in Baltimore. He also fails to recognize critical differences between these events, and in the process, demonstrates an all-too-typical tendency among white people to just not listen to why black people the things they do.
In Charleston, when a racist slaughtered nine people, law enforcement swarmed and sought an immediate arrest. Nikki Haley called for the death penalty for the offender within hours of his capture. After all, he had done his deed in a church, a sure no-no if he wanted to avoid severe political backlash. It was clear that the law would act in the interest of the people who had been murdered. I'm not one to ever suggest that the conviction of a murderer brings "justice" to slain victims, but it's the only cheap alternative that we have. The black community in Charleston was grieving, and it continues to grieve, but it was satisfied in knowing that, unlike in much of the 20th century, the man responsible for terrorizing nine black souls would be held accountable.
It doesn't take a current events PhD to understand that in Ferguson and Baltimore, protests erupted specifically because those in power did nothing in response to the murder of two black men. Black people were kept in the dark, given no answers, and left to wonder whether it is still true that in America, one can kill a black person without having to worry about even seeing a trial. While I've written at length about the protests in places like Baltimore are truly just a response to decades (or centuries) of systematic oppression, the immediate response was a reflexive one to a lack of action on the part of those in charge.
Imagine for a moment that the killer in Charleston had done his deed, and then the mayor, police chief, and governor had refused to give answers as to whether he'd be charged. It's madness to think about, of course, but that, too, would have brought a sort of protesting rarely seen in Charleston and America. The situations are in no way analogous, and they provide no proof that Charleston is "better" than those communities that this legislator is seeking to lampoon. By minimizing black pain in places where black pain exists, this particular legislator, and all like him, are rubbing salt into the wounds of the black community they claim to care about.
The myth of racial utopia in South Carolina is growing, and there's an easy explanation for why this is the case. Aside from the obvious desire of white folks in Charleston to elevate themselves above the perceived black communities in places like Ferguson and Baltimore, by pretending that South Carolina has racial "unity," one can politely excuse himself from the important work that must be done to actually make black people equal in South Carolina. Having lived in the state, studied in the state, and spent time with actual black people in the state, I find the current response both disheartening and extraordinarily dangerous.
I have a simple message to all of my fellow South Carolinians, and people elsewhere who might want to claim unity before going through the steps required to gain that unity:
I fear that the "unity" white people think exists between black and white in South Carolina is just a product of white people not spending much time listening to the problems faced by the black community.
From my seat, I see cities like Charleston "gentrifying" and annexing anything white, pushing black folks out of neighborhoods that they've always lived in, for the sake of profiteering.
I see Clemson's Board of Trustees issuing a horridly stupid statement, at the behest of a majority of Clemson alumni, supporting the honoring of white supremacist Ben Tillman, while essentially telling hoards of concerned black students that their issues didn't much matter.
I see Scott's Branch High School in Clarendon County that's still 99-percent black. I see Burke High School in Charleston County that's still 99-percent minority. I see a state that has still not fully complied with the Supreme Court's 60-year old ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.
I remember going to Florence and seeing the (at the time) favorite local bar handing out "membership cards" to white patrons, which cost nothing, so that they could then fail to admit black people because they lacked these membership cards. I see the Circle Fountain still stand as a bastion of segregation, where you'll have a hard time enjoying a cheeseburger if you're black.
I have personally filmed 3 instances of black people being pulled over, handcuffed, and (what I believe to be) improperly searched in the middle of the road in Darlington. I have watched Darlington Police over-police poor and black parts of town in order to increase revenue, essentially taxing these communities more than they do more affluent parts of town.
I have watched as the majority of white people have refused to join their black brothers and sisters in protests as black men have been shot in Columbia and in Charleston. I have read responses from friends and otherwise that put the responsibility for such abuse on the victims - "If you wouldn't have had a taillight out, you wouldn't have been pulled" and other such crap.
I have listened to the hateful rhetoric as Nikki Haley and others have treated the crime that happens during Black Bike Week differently than they have treated the crime that happens during large events attended by mostly white people (including Clemson and USC football games).
I have witnessed the de-humanization of black people in Charleston as a local high school smashed watermelons and made monkey sounds after beating black high schools. I then watched as people responded with horror and outrage when those nice little white kids were accused of being racist, as if no nice white kid could ever think of being so crude. I watched as the community demanded that the school's coach be re-instated and acted as if his firing was some major injustice.
I have been in South Carolina courts, where black men are arrested at hugely disproportionate rates in comparison with white men, for largely the same crimes.
I have seen a Florence court slap a homeless black man with $1,100 in fines for petty crimes, only to watch that same court reduce the fines by $800 when I, a nice looking white guy, walked in and made a simple request on the black man's behalf.
I have watched as the same court dropped both of my tickets just because I dressed in a suit and said, "Good morning, your honor."
I have driven through communities where parents still choose to send their kids to Robert E. Lee Academy, Williamsburg Academy, Pee Dee Academy, Laurence Manning Academy, Thomas Heyward Academy, Calhoun Academy, Orangeburg Preparatory Academy, and so many more, primary for the purpose of having their kids avoid contact with the mostly black public high schools that are left to languish around them.
I have watched as South Carolina State University nearly went under while the state legislature condemned it for being financially irresponsible. I have watched this while no one thought to mention the fact that it is very difficult to raise money for a college when, because of 300 years of systemic economic oppression, the average white family has roughly 11 times more WEALTH than the average black family, even when those two families have equal income figures.
Would I love to live in a world where South Carolina was "united?" Yep. Would I love to live in a state where black people were treated as "family," as was suggested to me by a white friend? Absolutely.
Would I love to get on board with this new desire to crown South Carolina as some racial harmony innovator because we decided to stop flying the God-forsaken Confederate battle flag on the grounds of our state house? No.
Because believing that we've made it all the way to unity is a really convenient way to excuse yourself from the real work that must be done to correct the harm that we as white people have inflicted upon black people for more than 300 years now.
Open your eyes and go get a real black friend if you think South Carolina has been a model for unity. Only the most naive of souls could ignore the systemic problems built into the culture of our state. Be a part of fixing them, not a part of ignoring them. No amount of hand-holding on a bridge after an unthinkable tragedy will correct those ills. It will take real legislative work, and a realization that the wrongs go deeper than your lily white eyes have chosen to see.