So just a minute ago I googled my elementary school's name to make sure I had the spelling right. When I went there it was Ben Tillman Elementary but it was changed to Ronald E McNair years ago. Anyway, I ended up looking up who Ben Tillman was I find out he was governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894 and then Senator from 1895 to 1918 when he died.
Now I know why they never taught us about our school's namesake. I guess the name was left over from a time before this area of Charleston was so predominantly black. Somebody must've decided the black astronaut from the Challenger was a much better role model for our community's children.
As Tillman proudly proclaimed in 1900, "We have done our level best [to prevent blacks from voting]...we have scratched our heads to find out how we could eliminate the last one of them. We stuffed ballot boxes. We shot them. We are not ashamed of it."
Another quote of Tillman's is "We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. We have never believed him to be the equal of the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him."
Reacting to news that Booker T. Washington had dined at the White House with President Theodore Roosevelt and his family, Tillman predicted, "The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that n***** will necessitate our killing a thousand n*****s in the South before they will learn their place again."
Another quote of Tillman's is "We of the South have never recognized the right of the negro to govern white men, and we never will. We have never believed him to be the equal of the white man, and we will not submit to his gratifying his lust on our wives and daughters without lynching him."
Reacting to news that Booker T. Washington had dined at the White House with President Theodore Roosevelt and his family, Tillman predicted, "The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that n***** will necessitate our killing a thousand n*****s in the South before they will learn their place again."
Comment