Growing Man
Political The state of South Carolina, similar to the majority of the states in the U.S. has historically had a disproportionate amount of white political leaders. As a result, the blacks in South Carolina are not fairly represented. From the time reconstruction ended, African-Americans have been underrepresented in South Carolina politics. The minute whites regained political power, they quickly used all available tactics to diminish the ability for African Americans to be elected into state office. African-Americans were not able to gain office because white incumbents were able to form tactics such as at large elections and therefore create districts that minimized the ability of African-American voters to elect one of their own into office. However, if white voters had not been reluctant to vote for African-American candidates, this would not have been an immense setback for African-American constituents. This situation greatly benefited white incumbent Democrats who usually benefited from African-American votes. Historically, once the percentage of African-American voters reached 25% in a district, white democrats were usually able to defeat republican challengers. Although office-holders had to pay some attention to their African-American constituents, many African-American leaders in the state felt they were being taken for granted.