After racist remarks, Cayce, SC officials have the opportunity to root out racism

Cayce Mayor Elise Partin is on the right track.

After learning that Marion Hutson, then a member of the town’s museum commission, said neighboring Columbia “did not need another colored person as mayor” she wanted him removed from the commission.

A majority of the City Council disagreed and allowed Hutson to keep his post, only to see him resign the next day.

Then, as the council voted to investigate new revelations about Hutson’s conduct, Partin said, “We need to know how far this goes,” adding she wants to make sure “there’s not a cultural issue we should address.”

We can guarantee a cultural issue exists, but it’s not one unique to Cayce.

Racism is thriving and the only way to rid ourselves of this centuries-old stain on humanity is to face it.

Hutson hasn’t denied making the comments, but in his 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.”

What does that mean? What would the betterment of the community look like?

If you’re genuinely concerned about racism, it means rooting out and challenging racism, not simply with words but with deeds.

If you are white, for instance, and you were in the room when Hutson said Columbia “did not need another colored person as mayor,” what would you have done about it?

Would you be willing to speak up and stop him in his tracks?

Being anti-racist has to be about more than shaking our heads and privately being shocked or stunned.

Being anti-racist is a conscious choice to recognize racism at the personal and institutional levels of society and to then decide to take positive action.

Cayce initially missed an opportunity by not voting unanimously to remove Hutson from his seat on the museum commission.

Now, Cayce has another opportunity.

Mayor Partin and the rest of City Council can take forceful steps to root out racism and commit to challenging racism wherever it appears.

A transparent investigation with a public release of its findings is a first step and it can be part of a larger, long-term effort to demonstrate that Cayce believes that its residents, regardless of race, ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation or gender, each deserve the respect afforded to them as members of the community.

That could include community meetings, development of a task force on racism or racial inequality, changes in policies and procedures to address bias within city government operations, and even a public information campaign that makes Cayce’s opposition to racism clear.

Every so often, we hear about a national reckoning on race after some tragedy befalls a Black person. Then, time marches on and the so-called reckoning fades away, a victim of our short attention spans, the 24-hour news cycle and a desire from some to “move on.”

But there will be no moving on until our leaders and our communities confront this demon and cast it out.