The last 23 years of bigotry and hatred should be enough reason to pass the hate crime bill.
There has been a barrage of hate crimes against those of African descent during this period, yet there has been no empathetic or corrective response to be seen within the legislature here in the south.
In 1998 James Byrd was beaten, stripped naked, tied to a truck, and dragged by three Caucasian men down a road, until he was dead and decapitated.
It should have been enough!
In 2011 James Craig Anderson was attacked by a group of Caucasian males. They'd harassed other individuals of African descent that same day before beating James Anderson in a motel parking lot, while shouting “white power.” When James tried to stand up after the beating, the group ran over him with a pick-up truck and killed him. They were convicted of one count of conspiracy.
It should have been enough!
Dylan Roof (an admitted white supremacist) killed 9 individuals of African descent inside a church during bible study, which included the death of State Senator Clementa Pickney.
Payton Gendron (2022) Buffalo, NY, killed 10 individuals of African descent, with the intent to kill more, citing the “White Supremacist Replacement Theory” as his reason.
This list barely touches the centuries of the brutal hate crimes that have plagued the African American communities in the south, as well as the rest of America.
From 2010-2018 only 100 hate crimes against those of African descent have been pursued by federal prosecutors.
It should have been enough!
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster and the Senate have yet to honestly consider the signing of the Clementa Pinckney Hate Crime Bill 3620.
Sen. Massey, Sen. Adams, and Sen. Grooms have also shown their true colors, as they vocalize their intentions, which have not been in favor of the bill. Their flag of stall tactics, rhetoric and blatant disregard for the African American community flies high!
Today, I call on all of those who truly care, and those of us who have experienced, and understand the bigotry and racism in the south and America, to stand up! Will you continue to live on your knees, or will you stand and fight with all that you have, from the gutter of systematic oppression, to the government of bigotry?
Dr. D. A. Dennis, Sr., Ph.D.
Spartanburg County Democratic Party Secretary