Clyburn calls for removal of Tillman statue at Capitol as clergy march for Black lives
South Carolina congressman Jim Clyburn added his voice to the statewide calls Saturday to remove the statue of Ben Tillman from the Capitol complex after hundreds led by clergy members peacefully marched to the State House demanding racial equality and justice.
“That statue needs to get off the State House grounds,” said House Majority Whip Clyburn, D-Columbia.
The statue of Tillman has long been a subject of controversy. Critics argue the South Carolina politician, a known racist who defended the lynching of Black people, doesn’t belong in front of the State House. But demands to remove his statue and name from S.C. college campus buildings has emerged among protesters’ demands after the death of George Floyd sparked millions across the country to protest police brutality.
Floyd, a Black Minnesota man, died in May after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Four officers have since been charged in Floyd’s death.
“We’re here today because of some significant failures,” Clyburn said. “All of the failures have not been in law enforcement. Many of those failures have been in legislative bodies, one of which I proudly serve in. ... We have spent years in this country talking past each other, talking over each other, talking around each other, but not enough time talking with each other. We’re here today to bring an end to a failure to communicate.”
In sweltering and typical Columbia heat, hundreds led by presiding Bishop of the Seventh Episcopal District of the AME Church, Samuel L. Green Sr., walked from historically Black college Allen University to the Capitol for an interfaith Black Lives Matter march.
Marchers wore masks, several of which were emblazoned with messages that included “I can’t breathe” and “Black lives matters.”
“It’s making a statement that we have an ecumenical presence in the midst of what we are seeing and experiencing,” said Bishop Jonathan Holston, resident bishop of the S.C. Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. “It’s a part of who we are as a faith. It’s a part of who we are as a people. To have the people of faith, from all denominations, to participate in a march of this stature, is saying to us that live matters for all of us, especially Black lives. And we want to be sure, ... to let others know the church is a place where we can all make a difference and we want to make a difference here today.”
For the Rev. Eric Robinson, pastor at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Conway, Saturday was even more personal.
“Even before the member of clergy, it is important for me to show up here as a father, to stand for my son to help make a better legacy of life for him, and as a person of faith, as one that believes in justice through God,” said Robinson, 49, walking beside to his son, Eric. “It carries great weight. I’m very proud to be a father. It makes Father’s Day different. It makes it a very powerful moment.”
The younger Robinson, said he didn’t originally set out to join the march.
“But here I am, and I love the experience because I know I’m fighting for something,” he said. “But Father’s Day, it’ll mean a lot more considering, you know, I was blessed enough to make it to another Father’s Day to see him so that’s all that matters.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2020 at 4:01 PM.
