Racial Equity in South Carolina Legislature Perspectives 4 Examining partisanship on wedge issues

MILLS JORDAN ‘25 (HE/HIM) SENIOR STAFF WRITER

This summer, I examined 312 bills introduced ithe South Carolina state legislature that either advance or threaten racial equity. With this data, I illustrate South Carolina’s legislative landscape and paths toward racial equity in areas like education, democracy, and criminal justice. Several issue areas influence racial equity in South Carolina. In particular, the areas which saw the most legislative action were education, democracy, the criminal-legal system, and economic equity. One bill introduced advances racial equity by setting maximum contaminant levels in public water systems, as contamination often disproportionately harms Black communities. Another threatens which serve the most marginalized students.

Meanwhile, a Democrat-sponsored bill would advance racial equity by providing that the scent of marijuana alone does not provide law enforcement with probable cause for stop, seizure, or arrest, since Black Americans often face disproportionate suspicion of drug possession.

In efforts to advance racial equity, bipartisanship is key: bills with bipartisan sponsorship are much more likely to make it out of committee, pass at least one chamber of the legislature, and be signed into law. Examples of bipartisan bills include one introduced by Democrats that advances racial equity by offering businesses tax incentives to employ formerly incarcerated individuals, who are disproportionately Black and face barriers to re-entering employment. Another bill introduced by Republicans advances real impact have been hijacked by fear-driven narratives such as the ‘threat’ of critical race theory or fabricated claims of election fraud. For example, fear surrounding critical race theory has pushed many Republican legislators to more strongly support private school vouchers, as this option can now be advertised as funding “an escape from CRT” pushed by public schools. However, this policy position will have inequitable consequences as tax dollars will be diverted from the public schools that support the most marginalized groups. Similarly, the false

As a result, Rep. Brawley lost a primary against another incumbent Black Democrat, Rep. Johnson. Whereas there were previously two Black representatives for Hopkins, SC, the gerrymandered redistricting now only allows for one. These trends will continue to threaten racial equity in South Carolina by underrepresenting Black South Carolinians and driving polarization.

Republican involvement is necessary to pass legislation that advances racial equity in South Carolina. Bills with bipartisan sponsorship fare significantly better in racial equity by requiring that the deliverer of absentee ballots has a government-issued photo ID, which could lead to the exclusion of ballots from marginalized communities. With regard to legislation along party lines, Democrats introduced the most pro-equity legislation, but Republicans still introduced nearly 50 bills that advance racial equity. A Republican-sponsored bill would advance racial equity by facilitating the deployment of broadband technology to underserved rural areas of the state, many of which include predominantly Black communities. racial equity by replacing “Economics” as a high school graduation requirement with “Personal Finance”—a more practical set of skills that will disproportionately benefit students who do not attend college.

To attract bipartisanship, equitable solutions should be framed as positive-sum. Policy solutions that advance racial equity should not be viewed as one group’s sacrifice to uplift another group; rather, solutions that advance racial equity lift everyone up. For instance, a Republican-introduced bill signed by the governor created technical college

Democrats did not introduce any bills that threatened racial equity, and Republicans introduced over 50 bills in that category. Among these is a bill that would threaten racial equity by funding private school vouchers through tax credits, which shrinks the revenue available for public schools, scholarship opportunities that open new doors for students while simultaneously meeting the state’s workforce needs. Here, improved educational access for some also promotes economic growth for all.

Fear-driven narratives foster harmful policy positions. Important policy discussions with claims of election fraud from 2020 influenced the passing of a bill which establishes a more partisan and powerful State Election Commission with wide-ranging authority to initiate audits in county election offices. This could possibly allow for election subversion and the general sowing of distrust in elections through excessive and unnecessary audit authority. With these two examples, it becomes apparent how fear-driven, often false, narratives create political energy to support policies that threaten racial equity. Additionally, gerrymandering threatens racial equity in South Carolina. A recent redistricting of South Carolina has further entrenched gerrymandering along racial lines. This will make it difficult to advance racial equity through legislation as Black voters have been systemically underrepresented through these redistricting changes. As an example, my conversation with Rep. Wendy Brawley revealed that her predominantly Black district was combined with a neighboring predominantly Black district. the legislative process. In addition, while Democrats introduce far more pro-equity legislation, the number of bills that pass at least one chamber of the legislature is nearly even between Republicans and Democrats. In summary, a state with a strong Republican majority needs to engage this political party on bills to advance racial equity through the state legislature.

Mills Jordan ‘25 (he/him) is a Political Science major and Chinese minor from Charleston, South Carolina. Mills can be reached for comment at mijordan@davidson. edu.