CHARLESTON, SC HAS A DIRTY SECRET
For the droves of tourists that pass through Charleston with historic landmarks and exquisite cuisine on their minds it might be easy to overlook the fact that the city has undergone a dramatic demographic shift in the last half century. For those that have moved to Charleston from out of State (yes, we're talking to you too Ohioans), it may not have ever occurred to them how few Black neighbors they have compared to other parts of the Palmetto State. But for those who have lived in Charleston more than a couple decades the reduction of black residents on the peninsula is very obvious.
LETS TAKE IT BACK TO CHARLESTON IN 1860
(Charleston, SC circa 1860)
James D. Johnson owned a tailor shop on King Street and owned two homes on Coming Street, numbers 7 and 9. Mr. Johnson's tailor shop was frequented by some of Charleston's most elite, including Judge Andrew Gordon Magrath. The Johnsons were wealthy enough to own their own slaves, which were very expensive at the time, to help with the shop, and sent their children away to school. Mr. Johnson was also a free Black man.
In 1860 there were more than 3,000 free Blacks living in what we now call the Downtown area of Charleston. Free Blacks owned houses and businesses on the most prominent streets in the city. The Johnsons are just one example of such families. The black community was intertwined with the white community, with Charlestonians visiting shops owned by individuals of the opposite race on a regular basis. Today, however, its a different story.
LETS JUMP FORWARD 110 YEARS
If you walk into a shop in downtown on your next visit to Charleston, you can almost guarantee its not black owned. Charleston South Carolina is one of those few places in the South that has remained under the control of the Democratic Party almost continuously since the end of the Civil War. For the better part of that time the demographics didn't change that much . Charleston was still a very integrated city with Blacks making up nearly 50% of the population in 1970. Then in 1975 something happened that would change all that.
(Joseph P. Riley)
Inf 1975 Joseph P. Riley Jr., a Democrat, was elected Mayor of Charleston. Mayor Riley touted himself as a champion of Civil Rights and made a spectacle of challenging the presence of the Confederate Battle Flag at the South Carolina State House in 2000 with his "March to the State House" and championed the program to build the new International African American Museum. With all of that its easy to understand why Democrats and the Black Community lauded Mayor Riley has a hero. But that's only half the story.
When Mayor Riley took office the black community made up nearly 50% of Charleston's population. When he left office in January 2016 that number had dropped to less than 25%. How, in just four decades, did the black population that had been rooted in Charleston for generations become so small? The answer is simple: Gentrification. But Riley didn't act alone. He enjoyed a Democrat controlled City Council.
THE MAN THAT BROUGHT BUSINESS TO CHARLESTON
Its difficult to point out this side of the tenure of Mayor Joe Riley in Charleston without getting sour looks and evil glances. To the wealthy white population of Downtown Charleston, most of which are from out of State, Mayor Riley is a hero who brought businesses to Charleston in rapid succession. It's easy for these rich northern Democrats to ignore the underlying cost of this development because they are the ones taking advantage of it while Black owned families and businesses in downtown have become essentially non-existent.
(Charleston, SC Skyline circa 2014)
Most of the new or "up and coming" neighborhoods in Charleston that developers are fighting over were once the generational homes of Charleston's Black community. Homes that were once passed down generation after generation within the Charleston Black community are now being "modernized" and "refurbished" and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars to rich white northerners. Entire neighborhoods of black Charlestonians are being turned out of their homes to make room for more affluent northern whites.
Neighborhoods in Charleston like Wagner Terrace, Hampton Park Terrace, and Elliot Borough have lost more than 50% of their black population since 2000. Many of these black families are being priced out of their neighborhoods. With the prices skyrocketing due to development and "revitalization", Charleston's black families have found themselves forced not only out of their neighborhoods but out of Charleston all together. All of this has happened under the watchful and "loving" eyes of the Democratic Party.
CURRENT MAYOR AND POLICE TARGETING
Charleston's current mayor, John Tecklenburg, has taken extreme fire in recent months after it was reported that official documents surfaced proving the Charleston Police Department is disproportionately targeting African Americans in the downtown area and beyond, all while African Americans remain a micro-minority in downtown. This was brought to public attention by South Carolina Community Leader and activist Shakem Amen Akhet, who called on black democratic leaders in the area to address the situation with the local government, but the citys Democratic leaders refused to publicly challenge the mayor on this.
Mayor Tecklenburg drew fire when he posed for photos at the College of Charleston wearing traditional African Dashiki. Members of the Charleston black community lashed out at the mayor, challenging on his decision to pander to blacks by wearing traditional African clothes and attending African heritage events while supporting policies that are systematically driving African Americans out of his city.
Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg (Facebook)
A CENTURY AND A HALF OF DEMOCRAT DOMINATION
While liberal activists and Democratic politicians will rant and rave in the streets and in the halls of Congress about the Republican Party being the party of genocide, racism, bigotry, and intolerance, the decimation of the Charleston Black Community has absolutely nothing to do with the Republican Party and everything to do with Democrat manipulation.
The last Republican mayor of Charleston, George I. Cunningham, left office in 1877. Yes, the last Republican mayor of Charleston left office the same year reconstruction was brought to a halt by the resurgence of white supremacist Democrats in the South. This seems to fly in the face of the Democratic mantra that the two major parties went through a "big switch" during the first part of the 20th century, which would suggest a Democratic Party elected by white supremacist sympathizers in the 1870s wouldn't have been very popular in the civil rights era, yet the Democrats held power and do to this day.
CHARLESTON'S DISAPPEARING BLACK COMMUNIT
As we said earlier, in 1860 there were more than 3,000 free Blacks living in the downtown area. Today, in a city with a population of more than 120,000, there are less than 1,000 black families living in the downtown area...and that number is dropping. The Party that is today screaming "racism" and "white supremacy" from the rooftops is the same Party that is systematically eliminating the Black population of Charleston South Carolina through a system of rapid and unfettered gentrification.
(Gullah Geechee Cultural Exhibition)
The Gullah Geechee once flourished in Charleston, but now the community is suffering. The Gullah Geechee have been in Charleston for generations and are on the verge of having their entire culture and history eradicated.
For those Black Charlestonians who remain in the downtown area, and for those who have been forced off the peninsula into North Charleston and beyond, we urge you to take a closer look at your elected officials. The Black community has played a vital role in making Charleston the city we all know and love. For the Democratic Party to succeed in removing that community from the face of The Holy City would be a cultural, economic, and historical catastrophe.
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