Downtown Apartheid, Intimidation, and the NAACP

"No matter how complex the reasons that have brought us to the point at which we stand, we have, it seems, been traveling a long way to a place of ultimate surrender that does not look very different from the place where some of us began."


These days when I see or hear from Dot Scott and the Rev. Darby of Charleston's NAACP, parts of Jonathan Kozol's latest book, Shame of a Nation, about the new apartheid in America's schools, begin to circulate in my head. Kozol cogently points out that, in many cities besides small ones like Charleston, local leadership has made its "deal with the devil" and settled for segregated but equal schools--shades of Plessy versus Ferguson! How else to explain Scott's defense of a system that over the last 30 years has left all downtown schools de facto segregated?


Now, once again Scott, Darby, and every other African-American leader they can cozen or coerce onto their team are in full cry against the new downtown charter school, in the process threatening local black leaders to get on board and claiming it's all a plot by Arthur Ravenel, Jr. They will accept all-black schools on the penninsula but not integrated ones.



When confronted with the charter school's racially-diverse leadership and state laws regarding the make-up of charter schools, the NAACP response is "don't confuse us with the facts." In fact, certain leaders, including Hillery Douglas and Ruth Jordan, CCSD board members who claimed support of the charter school at the CCSD meeting when it was approved, have now been caught twisting the arms of black leaders who SUPPORT the charter school. Presumably the intent is to cull charter school support of its black members so that the NAACP can then cry, "Aha! See, it's a plot to bring segregation back to downtown Charleston!"


Bring it back? Is that a joke? Please step into a classroom at Fraser, Charleston Progressive, or Burke--actually, you can name the school; just leave Buist out.



How far have they drifted from the desires of Martin Luther King, Jr., when CCSD board members "ambush" legitimate neighborhood leaders announcing support of the charter school?



According to at least one person present at the following event taking place downtown, sometime prior to Tuesday, October 9:

For the purpose of forcing a downtown African-American community leader to recant his support for the Charter School for Math and Science, CCSD board member Hillery Douglas set up a meeting with Pete Lawrence. The private meeting amounted to an ambush and attempted mugging. It failed to sway the intended victim and may have in fact caused him and other downtown black residents to become more ardent supporters of charter school alternatives as a way to get existing schools back on track.

Arthur Peter Lawrence is a Burke High School graduate, a co-founder of the Friends of Burke organization, President of the Westside Neighborhood Association and a recipient of the City of Charleston's Koon Award for his record of community service. He is actively supporting another African-American, Dudley Gregorie, in his campaign for Mayor of Charleston. After much soul- searching and seeking answers to many questions, Pete recently came out in support of the proposed Charleston Charter School for Math & Science. He said he did this because the existing CCSD schools located downtown are either not available to most downtown students (Buist) or failing so badly that there is little hope for change in the near future. CCSD claims it is unable to adequately improve downtown schools or make them racially diverse, saying that the causes of poor schools downtown are beyond its control.

Pete has also said that, only after the charter school group became active, did CCSD finally begin to take an interest in advancing plans for the improvement of Burke's academic programs. All previous proposals for Burke were for goals assoicated with minimum standards [Note: precisely the phenomenon described by Kozol in other cities]. It was as if CCSD had no interest in Burke's success until it was challenged with the possibility of losing control to another charter school. This one would become an alternative for the relief of long-suffering downtown parents. Pete said he could support that.

What made this meeting with Pete Lawrence unusual is that Pete was given the impression he was being invited to meet one-on-one with Nelson Rivers to discuss his support for the downtown charter school. Nelson Rivers, a Charleston native, is a highly-respected national NAACP official who helped start the NAACP's North Charleston branch.

It was not to be that kind of meeting. When Pete Lawrence arrived, he found a full house. In addition to Nelson Rivers, it included Dot Scott, Joe Darby, and CCSD board members Hillery Douglas and Ruth Jordan. What was set up as a discussion between two individuals had morphed into a onfrontation with a crowd Lawrence had opposed before. Unknown to Pete until it was too late, the meeting had been arranged and specifically designed to pressure him into publicly recanting his support for new charter school. Nelson Rivers was simply there to "mediate." Pete had been ambushed.

Hillery Douglas reportedly got ugly, saying Pete had to change his position or else and accusing him of betraying the black community by not standing with those who opposed this charter school. What Pete Lawrence discovered was the desperation of these individuals, who all had been in some way responsible for the poor condition of downtown schools, for a downtown spokesman to carry their message of opposition to the community [Note: none of these individuals live downtown except Lawrence]. They were opposed to the racially diverse charter school group. They needed someone with a platform within the downtown black community to be their downtown mouthpiece. They decided that Pete was the one because he had dared speak in favor of the new school. They didn't care if forcing him to change his position meant continuing to cut the throats of downtown schools like Burke. In spite of the pressure, Pete did not back down.

Pete wouldn't cross over, leaving those present without a person with downtown credentials to carry their message. Hillery Douglas reportedly became very angry and began threatening Pete. Nelson Rivers had to physically come between them, according to the witness, or it might have gotten worse. Nelson Rivers, as it turns out, may not have been fully aware of the power play going on until after the meeting had begun.

The strong-arm tactics of Hillery Douglas are deplorable, but it is also highly questionable as to why he and Ruth Jordan, both members of the current Charleston County School Board, would choose to participate in a backroom, closed-door attempt to intimidate a downtown school advocate and private citizen, knowing that witnesses could go public. Without question they were trying to force Mr. Lawrence to change his public position. They wanted him to actively oppose a racially-diverse, community-based charter school group which was organized to create public school choices for downtown parents.



Both Douglas and Jordan have gone on record as supporting this charter school, but behind the scenes we find they are doing something else. By this account, they have misled the public about their support for the charter school as well as knowingly participated in what amounts to a politically motivated mugging.

Pete Lawrence, and other determined parents and residents of downtown Charleston like him, are continuously being pressured and in some cases threatened financially to not support the charter school. Others have been verbally abused and threatened by Hillery Douglas for speaking out for public schools downtown. Pete Lawrence has the courage and the good fortune to not be beholden to corrupt power brokers who have been willing to sell out downtown school children. Because he’s a man of integrity and has no financial ties to these bosses, he continues to speak his mind. Others downtown are not so fortunate. Most downtown parents and public school supporters are just glad that there are people like Pete Lawrence who have the ability to speak of ideas that most people downtown can only think or speak of privately.

Downtown schools, especially Burke High School, are fortunate that they are being defended by courageous and unbending supporters like Pete Lawrence against the assaults and neglect of Hillery Douglas and the rest, including Dot Scott, Joe Darby, and Ruth Jordan.