Letter to the editor: We diminish value when we distort history of area

This date, April 4, 2023, is 55 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. History shows that during the last decade of Dr. King's life, there were major efforts to "shut him up" on civil rights matters.

Fast forward, the efforts of Dr. King, who undoubtedly was influenced by the nonviolent stance of Mahatma Gandhi and the courage of education pioneer Mr. Levi Pearson, is taking a major setback. What happened to U.S. Constitution First Amendment rights?

Yesterday, Monday, April 3, 2023, Ms. Betty Sutton was not granted an opportunity to speak during the Clarendon County school board meeting. Is it an attempt to "shut her up"? Ms. Sutton is an eloquent speaker and requested several weeks prior to the April 3, 2023, board meeting to speak before the Clarendon County school board.

Is it not ironic that Ms. Betty Sutton would be denied an opportunity to appear before a school board that governs the schools which she attended as a child and later from which she graduated? The bedrock for public education and home of Briggs v. Elliott.

We should be reminded that the Clarendon County school board was appointed by the local legislative delegation. At the time of their appointment, the people doing the appointing was technically Sen. Kevin Lorenzo Johnson and his daughter. It is my belief that the appointed board (or at least some of the members) are reluctant to address or even hear anything that the senator has expressed or implied that he is opposed to.

We should not allow anyone to deprive us of our First Amendment rights or any other rights. We cannot sit idle while our democracy erodes right before our eyes. We do not need a monarchy. Dynasty is not the answer. My letter to the editor (Manning Times) dated May 19, 2020, expressed my opposition to the senator and his daughter running for our local legislative delegation. At the time, I could foresee the consequences and wanted to voice my opinion to the voters. However, many people would now agree with me that it was not the best idea.

The renaming of St. Paul Elementary School turned out to be a mistake. The renaming of St. Paul Elementary has caused much division in the Summerton community. Many people who are afraid to speak out against the school name change ask me when will the name be changed back to St. Paul Elementary. The people are disappointed that a governing body, i.e., the school board would ignore the petition of more than 1,300 people who are asking for the name to be restored to St. Paul Elementary School. Restoring the name to St. Paul Elementary School has always been about preserving the history of the Summerton community and nothing else.

We diminished the value when we distort the history of the area. We add value by properly preserving what should be preserved. Some years ago (five years or more) a few people, including me, weighed the benefits to the Summerton community of having a tourist center in Summerton that would provide tours to the many historical sites in the Summerton community and other areas of Clarendon County. Many people travel to Charleston and tour many other parts of our beautiful state. We have good highways and an interstate highway that runs through Clarendon County. We can capitalize on the history and historical sites of Clarendon County.

Clarendon County history should be preserved. Now, that includes the Summerton community and the schools. We should face the truth that history is exactly that, history.

Let us (the 1,300-plus) petitioners be clear. We have made a simple request in the petition. We can summarize it here by saying that the board is requested to restore the name to St. Paul Elementary School or name it in honor of a petitioner from the Briggs v. Elliott petition such as Mr. Levi Pearson. We need to face reality. The name Dr. Rose H. Wilder has no business on our school.

The Clarendon County school board appears to be using Sen. Kevin Lorenzo Johnson's talking points that the senator posted on Facebook. On Sept. 7, 2020, the afternoon before the then-Clarendon School District One board meeting which was scheduled for Sept. 8, 2020. Chairman Ceth Land appears to have used Sen. Johnson's talking points in a recent letter. Chairman Ceth Land's letter to Ms. Betty Sutton seems to follow the similar talking points of Sen. Kevin L. Johnson's Facebook post referenced above.

The then-Clarendon District One Board did not follow the procedures it hurriedly put in place.

Chairman Ceth Land is incorrect when he stated in his letter to Ms. Betty Sutton (dated March 29, 2023) that the CSD1 board followed the process. The last sentence in Chairman Land's letter reads, "For this reason, we find no compelling reason to revisit the naming of the Dr. Rose H. Wilder Elementary School at this time." A question that I am asking myself is who are the "we"? If the "we" is the Clarendon County school board, on what date was that meeting held? A petition with over 1,300 petitioners is not compelling? Why is the school board ignoring the petition of more than 1,300 people? It appears that the school board is reluctant to go against the views of Sen. Johnson. If so, they are not alone because several people told me please don't mention their names when talking about Sen. Johnson.

Anyway, the minutes of the CSD1 meetings are proof that things were hurried. Investigation revealed that the CSD1 board did not follow the procedure they put in place and stated they would follow. The CSD1 board even changed the policy in order to change the name.

The CSD1 meeting was held at a church outside the district even though there are many large churches in the Summerton community and several churches in the town of Summerton.

In addition, very few people in the community other than the board members (at the time) and Sen. Johnson knew that any consideration was taking place to change the name.

Chairman Ceth Land and Clarendon County school board members, please don’t deprive the people of the right to speak. Board member Arthur Moyd used more than two minutes talking about himself. Nothing wrong with that, but Ms. Betty Sutton wanted to talk about something that thousands of voters care about. I believe, out of respect, she should be invited to speak during a regular school board meeting in the near future.

I would like to remind everyone that freedom isn’t free. We have come a long way in our country. From the beginning, we have been striving for a more perfect union. The First Amendment is a part of our Bill of Rights. And it guarantees us freedom of speech. There are very few limitations to that. If we don’t speak up when we need to, a tyrant would take our rights away.

JOSEPH L. DINGLE

Scott's Branch High School

Class of 1973