Human and civil rights were on the agenda Wednesday evening for the second in a series of forums held by Lead the Way, a student-run voter registration initiative.
Students crowded into the USC School of Law auditorium to hear a four-person panel speak about their contributions to human rights on both the state and worldwide levels and the misconceptions that accompany the work of their organizations.
Columbia Chief of Police Skip Holbrook was vocal in his appreciation for the Columbia Police Department’s defense of the rights of citizens of all ideologies to speak freely and to assemble.
"We see protests that we may not agree with, we gotta respect that, we gotta protect that" Holbrook said, whether they are the "most hateful person in the world or the most righteous person in the world."
Joining Holbrook on the panel were attorney Lindsay Vann of Justice360 and Shaundra Young Scott, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Carolina. The three local panelists were joined by special guest Jana Mason, senior advisor for government relations and external affairs at the United Nations High Commission on Refugees.
Mason’s particular line of work, the resettlement of “particularly vulnerable” refugees and stateless persons, has become paramount in the face of the ongoing Syrian civil war, which according to Pew Research Center has displaced 12.5 million people since 2011. The concurring refugee crisis has affected nations on both sides of the Atlantic, and even influenced recent legislation in Columbia.
In response to terrorist incidents in refugee-friendly Europe, the South Carolina state Senate passed legislation that would require all incoming refugees to register with the state government. The bill, proposed by state Sen. Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson), would also hold any groups involved in resettlement — including religious organizations — accountable if the refugees they sponsor commit any acts of terrorism or other violent acts.
Regarding the controversial statute, Bryant commented to The Guardian that the bill could “make South Carolina the most unwelcome state for refugees.”
Mason took a much softer tone on resettlement Wednesday evening.
“Refugees by definition are people who have experienced horrors and atrocities and terrorism,” Mason told The Daily Gamecock. “History has shown that once they are embraced, they really bring a lot to their new communities.”
“I think if people understand who refugees are, they won’t be afraid of them coming into their communities,” Mason said.
Lead the Way’s forum series will return on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. with a discussion on economic empowerment in Russell House Ballroom A.