Uncover forgotten Black history in South Carolina
Last year, I organized a video shoot for Lonely Planet hosted by travel influencer Sojourner White. We visited Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina to learn about what makes southern hospitality the south’s biggest tourism export. We ate boiled peanuts and pimento cheese and said “Hey y’all,” but what really stuck with me was the Black history in South Carolina I knew nothing about until seeing it up close.
I stood as far back as I could from the mural. I was trying to let my eyes take in the scene, stupefied that until very recently, I knew nothing about the woman in front of me, pictured here as larger than life. I didn’t even know her name. Sarah Mae Flemming, wearing a green dress with tiny white polka dots stood in front of a public bus, the quote to the left of her shoulder said, “It was the right thing to do.”
Justice progresses thanks to the public resistance of a strategic few and the inadvertent acts of everyday people.
I imagine Sarah Mae Flemming thought June 22, 1954 would be another ordinary day as she boarded the bus. She was on her way to work as a maid for a white family in the suburbs when she got on the South Carolina Electric and Gas public bus in Columbia. A white woman had gotten out of her seat to get off the bus, so Flemming sat down. This upset the bus driver, who ordered her to get up. Flemming got off at the next stop, before her intended stop to avoid additional confrontation, but not before the bus driver blocked her from the front exit and punched her in the stomach.
South Carolina’s NAACP chapter heard about what happened and worked with Flemming to file a federal lawsuit. On appeal, the US Fourth Circuit ruled against the bus company, leading to the desegregation of Columbia’s buses. Five months later, with knowledge of Flemming’s court ruling, Rosa Parks challenged Birmingham’s segregated bus policies on December 1, 1955.
My history lesson continued on Main Street at the site of another mural, this one too big and bold to miss.
Even though it towers at 600 feet tall, it’s not the sheer size of the mural that first grabs passersby, but the vibrant blues and reds that bring wonderment to the side of this city-owned building. Next, the eyes gaze up to the muted section of the artwork, a depiction of an old storefront full of businesses like Bo’s, Jack Williams Real Estate, and Classic Beauty Shop.
This bright and airy mural, painted by local artist I’ja Charles, is a depiction of Columbia, South Carolina’s original Black Wall Street, a neighborhood on Washington Street that was once full of Black-owned businesses.
“I actually spoke to one of the oldest women that is still alive that owned the beauty salon that is in the top left hand corner,” Charles said. “So when we came out here and she spoke to me on FaceTime, she was telling me just about how things were back then and how this looked, exactly how the building was. And I never knew about this history. So being able to recreate something that I didn't know we had, a Black Wall Street in South Carolina, that was, I was just super excited.”
In this case, Charles’ art does not imitate life. It preserves it.
Charles’ story reminded me of the gift of oral histories. When history books and statues are constructed to benefit the perspectives of the oppressor, sometimes the only place truth exists is in the memories that elders share with youth.