By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The guy from Long Island smoking a big cigar didn’t think historic statues and memorials should be removed. To do so would be a way for the present generation to try to whitewash the history of the past — to rid these tributes from the state’s collective conscience and keep people from remembering how things were.
IN THIS EDITION
FOCUS: Redux hosts opening of two new exhibitions
COMMENTARY, Brack: Throw out the Heritage Act
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston RiverDogs
NEWS BRIEFS: Big ship stops by port of Charleston
FEEDBACK: Use opioid funds carefully, transparently
MYSTERY PHOTO: Wild mural
CALENDAR: Photos come alive in museum’s new Living Color exhibit
Staff reports | Close to one-third of state lawmakers say they are for repealing the Heritage Act, according to an organization pushing its repeal. Repeal the Heritage Act said 49 lawmakers have expressed public support for the law’s repeal. It requires two-thirds of the General Assembly’s two chambers to agree to any changes or removals of war and heritage monuments on public property, including those commemorating the Confederacy and African American heritage.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Sullivan’s Island celebrates a different kind of Carolina Day
COMMENTARY, Brack: McMaster needs to issue statewide mask order now
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Titan Termite & Pest Control
PHOTO ESSAY: Calhoun statue comes down
NEWS BRIEFS: Calls to repeal Heritage Act gain ground
FEEDBACK: Got something to say? Let us know by mail or email
MYSTERY PHOTO: Marine scene
CALENDAR: Singleton to release 4th solo album July 3
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Savannah River Site
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The curious thing about laws is they can be repealed.
When South Carolina legislators meet this week to talk about money, they need to add repealing the Heritage Act to the agenda. Twenty years ago, the act passed as the fulcrum of a compromise to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse dome. Now, its time has come. It needs to be shelved itself, gone like prohibition and old laws on fugitive slaves, sodomy, investment banking and miscegenation.
4/5ths of current lawmakers haven’t voted on Heritage Act. Only 30 of the state’s current 170 legislators cast votes 20 years ago on whether the state should protect monuments from removal.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Council vote may bring down Calhoun statue this week
COMMENTARY, Brack: Repeal the Heritage Act this week
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Charleston Gaillard Center
NEWS BRIEFS: On the Heritage Act, Fresh Future Farm and coronavirus
FEEDBACK: State fortunate to have Elmore as future doctor
MYSTERY PHOTO: Pretty gazebo begs question, “Where am I?”
CALENDAR: Redux exhibit now open
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Denmark Vesey
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Now is not the time for the state’s black legislators to be timid. Now is the time to demand much more than has been on the table in a long time.
For the generations from slavery through Jim Crow and into modern times, South Carolina’s African American population has been beaten down, physically, mentally and emotionally.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina! (2019) by editor and publisher Andy Brack offers incisive commentaries on the American South, politics, the common good and interesting South Carolina leaders. Available exclusively for Kindle for $7.99. A paperback version will be ready soon. Learn more.
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