Solomon: Recent politics attempt to ‘turn back the clock’
Name-calling. Police escorts. Being kept up the night before an exam. Orientations that included sessions about how to act on campus.
These are a few examples of the adversity some of the university’s first black students say they faced after USC was desegregated 50 years ago.
The Zeta Epsilon Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity commemorated the struggle against racism with their “50 Years Later…” panel on Monday night.
James Solomon, one of the three students who desegregated USC and the first African-American elected to public office in Sumter County since Reconstruction; Harry Walker, the first black student body president at USC; Alex English, a USC basketball player and the most prolific scorer in the NBA in the 1980s; and Steve Benjamin, Columbia’s first black mayor, all spoke at the panel.
The main focus of the discussion was how these men overcame the struggles they faced as minority students. Despite many adversities both on campus and off, all of the speakers described sources of incentive that carried them throughout their lives.
“If you were in my generation, you were automatically motivated. You had to be motivated because it was bred into you,” Solomon said.
“I was motivated by poverty,” English said. “I always felt like I wanted to do better, and I wanted to learn. I was a student of the world. I wanted to travel. I wanted to be something in it.”
Benjamin said he actually received some of his determination from the other three speakers on the panel, who he saw as mentors while he was a student at USC. They helped him become accustomed to campus, which sparked his interest in politics as a student.
“They encouraged me to shoot high,” Benjamin said. “It helped me develop a sense of self — not just who I was, but the shoes I had to fill, the legacy I had to continue.”
The discussion also touched on the contemporary and future states of racism and how current students can make a difference.
“I’ve lived a long time,” Solomon said. “I’ve lived through Jim Crow. I’ve lived through segregation. I’ve lived through after segregation was outlawed … I’ve been through a lot of things.
“But here’s what concerns me: I see signs of political activity that I view as an attempt to turn the clock back.”
Solomon cited South Carolina’s Voting Rights Act, the Stand Your Ground Law and the number of black males incarcerated as examples of attempts to revive racism.
He also said he sees examples of racism in the state of politics today.
“I am absolutely convinced that the stagnation is not just because of the Tea Party. It is because Obama is black,” Solomon said.
The members of the panel agreed that current USC students need to learn the history of racism and segregation, and then take action against it.
“I tell you this because you are the future. If anyone is going to stand up against these things, you’ve got to do it,” Solomon said. “I want you to understand that life is serious. We’ve come along a way, but there’s still a long way to go.”