Do you remember our state's past? Seriously? Do you remember what this state started? What it protected? How it treated certain people? How hard was it for blacks to gain civil rights? How hard did proponents have to fight for such a noble cause?
Let me remind you.
South Carolina started the secession in 1860, right before Abraham Lincoln took office. Why? Because the state wanted to protect and expand slavery. For personal gain and benefit. For private enterprise and profits.
The state issued a formal declaration that identified a threat to slaveholders' rights. The Federal government was about to change the country, for the better, and these Southern states saw what was coming.
The American Civil War broke out in April 1861 with the Battle of Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C. From this point forward, South Carolina would be known as anti-civil rights. It would gain the reputation of bucking national government.
After the Civil War... Wait, let's think about the title "Civil" in civil war. How civil were we? Not so much.
In the 1950's, we still held tight to slavery notions. We denied blacks to attend public schools and colleges. We denied them equal access to diners. We even spent more money just to make up "Whites Only" signs, separate water fountains, etc.
Let me share an example of what was going on:
Most riveting is when we get the sense that we're being issued a sideline pass into a world hidden from the headlines of the times. One of the best such episodes is the story of James Meredith's integration of the University of Mississippi. This is a standard hallmark of the civil rights movement, and most people know that President John F. Kennedy and Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett were engaged in tense negotiations over Meredith's admission.
But less remembered is that Ole Miss's football team was then a national powerhouse, and the Rebels were playing a key game the weekend that Barnett and Kennedy were trading phone calls. At halftime of the Saturday night game, with Ole Miss leading Kentucky 7-0, Barnett walked onto the field to rapturous applause. "I love Mississippi. . . . I love and respect our heritage!" he bellowed. The all-white crowd went berserk.
"It brought to my mind Nuremberg. . . . It was almost surreal," remembers Ole Miss punter Frank Lambert, who watched the scene from the sideline, comparing Barnett to Hitler. Lambert, who later played in the NFL, translates Barnett's coded meaning as: "I love white supremacy. I love the way we do things here."
Barnett, galvanized by the crowd, went back to his office, called Kennedy and told him any deals were off. Kennedy sent in Meredith and sent in troops, riots ensued, people died.
Now, let's fast forward to today. Let's take a look at the actions of the far right and what their doing to demean, demoralize, disrespect and destroy what others are trying to do to better those less fortunate.
We've seen the tea parties, if you could call them that. We've seen the "birther" revolts. We've seen this state's stubbornness to accept stimulus funds to fund public schools and law agencies. We've seen the pure ignorance of the same people who started the 1861 war in this country. The same people who want the Confederate flag on the statehouse dome, rather than in a museum. Unfortunately, this state is run by the lunatics, so the flag sits on statehouse grounds.
Thankfully, U.S. Senator George Voinovich - although retiring - sees the major problem:
"We got too many Jim DeMints (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburns (R-Ok.). It’s the southerners. They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr.' People hear them and say, ‘These people, they’re southerners. The party’s being taken over by southerners. What they hell they got to do with Ohio?’ "
While I disagree with him about all Southerners being the problem, I do see what he means. There are certain Southerners who haven't moved passed the days of the old. They continue to live in the segregated past, wanting people to suffer by all means possible. They even vote against their own interests, thinking the rich will take care them. I do wish they'd realize they are actually slaves themselves.
Are we, as progressive Democratic people, going to allow these far right, slave-minded political leaders to control the masses? Are we not going to get out and change this state that we live in for the better?
You know, it would be nice to be known on the national level for something besides what a teen pageant participant screws up on or a governor's scandal. What about being the first in making the state friendly to workers, supporting workers' rights? What about taxing people at appropriate levels to fund a budget, instead of digging deeper into debt? What about supporting public education, working with schools to provide "green" schools and educational opportunities? And, how about finally erasing the "Corridor of Shame" moniker, support and improve the schools and name it the "Corridor of Fame."
It won't happen... Unless.
Unless we are willing to stand in the streets ourselves in direct disregard of the far right, then we'll be owned as usual. Unless we work like we did in 2008 - even better - then we'll be wiping tears away from our faces. Unless we are willing to defy the fear that oppresses us Democratic people in a Republican state, we'll silently accept their status quo.
I shouldn't have to convince people of what negativity is out there. I shouldn't have to convince people of the action that needs to take place.
But nonetheless, the Republicans and their front groups control this state. The scare people to vote against their economic principles for social issues that hardly affect them.
The principles of the Confederate era hang around, dominating our politics and in essence ruining any chances of South Carolina being even better, finally escaping the roots of the past.
What are we going to do about it? Are you willing to endure more years of this? I'm not.
It's time to forget the petty inside politics of our state party, move on from it and improve our reach-out potential. It's time to come together for a common goal. It's time to work as one to change our state.
Progressive leadership is needed in a time like no other.
Are you willing to work for it?
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