New allegations of racist comments by ex-Cayce appointee surface, inquiry to follow
New racist comments from a former Cayce museum commissioner surfaced during a city council session Wednesday, according to an email read aloud at the session.
An email was sent to council members from a person who said he knows Marion Hutson, who resigned last week amid allegations of making racist comments to a city staffer.
The person who sent the email was not named at the council meeting, but the email described an incident where Hutson was said to have made racially insensitive and racist comments while campaigning for then-candidate Hunter Sox.
Mayor Elise Partin, who read the email, said it corroborated an allegation made last week that accused Hutson of making similar comments.
Hutson is a former public appointee of the Cayce Historical Museum Commission. Last week, he was accused of saying Columbia didn’t need another “colored” mayor to a city staffer. He resigned the next day after The State reported on the accusations. He served as a museum commissioner for more than 20 years.
Hutson hasn’t responded to the alleged comments reported last week and Wednesday. He has not responded to The State’s repeated requests for comment.
In Hutson’s resignation letter sent to the museum chair, he wrote that “seeing the community and the nation divided as a whole, I prefer to see the community be united as one. Therefore, I am voluntarily resigning my position. ... I will continue to pray that the betterment of the community prevails.”
After the mayor read the email, the council voted unanimously to investigate Hutson’s comments.
“We need to know how far this goes,” Partin said. She said she wants to make sure “there’s not a cultural issue we should address”
Email describes racist incident
The email read Wednesday came from a person described as a longtime Cayce resident who said he had known Hutson since childhood.
The email alleged that Hutson came to a Cayce resident’s house in September to campaign for Sox.
Hutson used the term “colored people” several times, according to the person who emailed the council. Hutson also said there was a “need for change” with the council, which then had two Black members, current Mayor Pro Tem James Jenkins and former council member Ann Bailey-Robinson, who Sox beat in the election earlier this month.
Hutson used the racist term again to refer to people in positions of responsibility with the city, the email said. Hutson derided a city government official for having a picture of former President Barack Obama in an office.
The emailer said Hutson’s “entire approach to the city council race was racially based and biased.”
“I was left with the thought that if this was the type of change he hoped Hunter Sox would bring to the city then I’m certainly not in favor of Mr. Sox being my city councilman.”
Wednesday night, Sox told The State: “I really appreciate this concerned citizen bringing this to light; however, I wish he had done so earlier so that much of what has happened since could have been avoided.”
Partin said the city of Cayce needs to heal and move forward after Hutson’s resignation and the uproar his comments caused but, “we can’t do that without knowing what’s going on.”
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 8:15 PM.