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www.charlestonbusiness.com
September 7 - 20, 2020
Tea garden, others rebrand amid social justice conversation By Teri Errico Griffis
T
tgriffis@scbiznews.com
he company behind North America’s only tea farm underwent a quiet name change in June, replacing the word “plantation.” It’s now Charleston Tea Garden — a name that partner William Hall said more appropriately represents the Wadmalaw land. There was no public pressure advocating for the update and there was no publicity announcing it, as Hall said he and his partners sought neither praise nor to stir up further conflict regarding the word. “It was simply the right thing to do at the right time,” Hall said. A third-generation tea taster who studied formally in London, Hall came to own the land then known as Charleston Tea Plantation in 1987. Seeking additional financing in 2003, he partnered with his longtime friends at Bigelow Tea — a Connecticut-based, family-owned company with 65 years of experience in the specialty tea business. Seventeen years later, the partners have taken a hard look at the business’s name, like so many others in the South who have built a legacy of tourism on a history that was founded on slavery. “Plantation” was never an ideal representation of the land anyway, Hall said. He started his commercial business in 1987, more than a century after the Civil War ended and enslaved people were freed, changing the labor system upon which plantations were based. The name also confused guests who assumed there’d be a plantation house. While there had never been any major outcries or backlash regarding the garden’s original name, the Bigelows said they have always been sensitive to the fact that the word “plantation” carries significant pain for many in the country and throughout the world. So together with Hall they changed it. “Today there are so many voices calling for positive action, building the appropriate awareness to drive meaningful change,” the company said in a statement. “Bigelow Tea has worked hard to create an environment of inclusion and equality but as an organization and as individuals, we know we can always do better.” The change was small at first, starting in 2019 with the Bigelow tea variety Plantation Mint. The name had elicited a number of derogatory statements over the years, Hall said, and the Bigelows renamed it Perfectly Mint late last year. With calls for social justice growing louder, and then erupting in protests after the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody, and with the conversation particularly targeting national monu-
Charleston Tea Garden (above) and Geechie Boy Mill (left) are among several Lowcountry businesses changing their names as the nation grapples with race relations. (Photos/Teri Errico Griffis)
ments and company names, Hall said the conversation surrounding a rebranding of the tea garden came up again this year. “The Bigelows asked what I would think about changing our name here and I said sure,” Hall said. Updating plantation to the word “farm” was a closer description, but Hall worried it wouldn’t be as appealing to tourists. Instead, he and the Bigelows moved forward with pushing the company’s legal business name, Charleston Tea Gardens, to the forefront. Dropping the “s” made for a softer transition. “I can’t say it’s not a big deal because we know how harmful that word can be to certain people. But it was the right time,” Hall said.
To rebrand or not to rebrand
Charleston Tea Garden is one of a handful of businesses throughout the area to address its name in response to the national conversation. On July 1, Geechie Boy Mill on Edisto Island announced that it would rebrand, although no official name change has been released yet.
“Please understand that this will be a slow process as we have to do the trademarks, packing, etc. Once we know that our new name is a go, we will let you know,” the company said in a news release on Aug. 20. But not all companies feel the need to change their name, despite the current conversation. Charleston-based Dixie Vodka considers the South to be a dynamic, ever-evolving place and stood by their name in a June statement. “We’re proud to be called Dixie Vodka,” they said. “As the singular nickname for the region for 200 years, ‘Dixie’ represents the South of the present, at any given point in time. The South has not always represented things we are proud of, but there is plenty to love and learn about from our collective history and much to be proud of today,” the company said. “Through the Dixie Vodka brand, we aim to positively reflect the South of today, representing the best of the region not just at home, but across the country.”
Deciding what names should change and what monuments should be taken down throughout the South requires thoughtful consideration, says Marion Burns, chair and interim executive director of the Penn Center, an African-American cultural and educational center on St. Helena Island. “We can’t do it carte blanche, he said. “History is history, but I think we need to be careful.” Some changes make perfect sense to him, such as taking down the John C. Calhoun statue in Marion Square; for others, he suggested the state create a committee comprising all races who could create informed, thoughtful decisions. Removing the word “plantation,” however, is something he can relate to, having lived in a Beaufort community named Colleton River Plantation for 17 years. He was one of only a handful of Black residents in the community. “When I think of ‘plantation,’ I think of my great-grandparents who were slaves and the negative connotation,” he said. “They were treated awful. I didn’t go through those things, but I’m mindful it happened and don’t need to be reminded every day.” CRBJ
Reach staff writer Teri Errico Griffis at 843-849-3144.