South Carolina’s Democratic Primary Is 400 Years in the Making

The Democratic National Committee’s decision to move South Carolina to the front of the presidential primary line—displacing both Iowa and New Hampshire—has created a stir over race and entitlement. Despite the hoopla, the practical benefit for the state Democratic Party is a purely symbolic one—that’s because if Biden runs, as expected, he is unlikely to face a challenger.

Nonetheless, for Black political culture, the selection is like listening to a soulful tune by the South Carolina native James Brown—it triggers the emotional memory of a people’s journey through separation, pain, hope, and pride. Understand that the state holds a special place in our political history—where race has been key to wielding power since the days of slavery.

The party’s validation of Black voter concerns is an extension of the march to freedom codified in the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act. For the Democratic Party, the elevation of diverse voices in the primary helps to transform a major political party steeped in the country’s history of white supremacy—and nowhere more than in South Carolina.

Read more at The Daily Beast.