As a full-time and career social studies teacher, I fully appreciate the need to preserve history.
There is merit to the argument that the erasure of historical memory will only ensure that we, as a society, learn the wrong lessons, celebrate the wrong heroes and repeat the same mistakes.
The deliberate misinterpretation of history has long been used as a weapon of oppression by those in power. We need look no further than the anti-Semitic curriculum of the Third Reich or the anti-bourgeoisie textbooks of Stalin’s Soviet Union for evidence.
However, dropping the word “plantation” from the names of many predominantly white neighborhoods in the Lowcountry simply does not constitute the “cancellation” of history.
Most obviously because few of these neighborhoods are actual plantation grounds.
The history of these neighborhoods dates back to the late 1990s, not the late 1800s.
The use of the word “plantation” in the names of many of these communities was, at best, intended to conjure up antebellum allusions to large homes, acres of land and fresh lemonade that meant to appeal to affluent white families.
At worst, the word has been received by many black neighbors as an implied “whites only” sign to discourage minority homeownership and the complexities that would certainly follow.
I’m all for the preservation of actual history and historical grounds. But housing developments that romanticize the word “plantation” to sell homes and appeal to white homeowners constitute neither.
JOHN HUBER-MACNEALY
Sandy Point Lane
Mount Pleasant
Say ‘no’ to open carry
In their March 20 commentary “SC travel and tourism industry still needs recovery help,” Helen Hill and Michael Tall, CEO and board chairman, respectively, of Explore Charleston, speak to what we all witnessed during the past year as businesses and nonprofits dependent on tourism have struggled to hang on.
With government recovery help and the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine, tourists are slowly returning and locals are venturing out. There is reason to hope.
But, in its wisdom, the South Carolina Legislature is poised to pass an open carry bill, allowing people from every state to visit here, bringing their weapons and carrying them openly.
This is a sure way to harm the tourism economy in a state heavily dependent upon it.
Why would we do this? There seems to be no benefit, only more opportunity for tragedy. We are still reeling from the news that Colorado has experienced another mass shooting. As one law enforcement officer expressed, how would one know, among those openly carrying a gun, who might be a killer?
I support the Second Amendment. I have had hunters in my family all of my life and I am glad that South Carolina is a state in which people can enjoy that recreation.
But open carry? It is the wrong choice for South Carolina.
Please speak up now and let state legislators know that you, along with many other South Carolinians, oppose open carry.
SALLIE M. DUELL
East Battery
Charleston
Fear rule changes
The news that President Joe Biden is “open to big Senate rule changes to aid agenda” should strike fear into the hearts of all Americans, regardless of political persuasion.
The nation’s founders knew that it was important to restrain the tyranny of the majority, so they designed layers of safeguards.
The removal of these safeguards, in conjunction with the fealty to party-line voting, tends to push the legislative process to the views of the extreme members of either party.
While Americans agree on far more than we disagree, this proposed dynamic will proceed at the expense of common values.
Laws that are passed without significant minority party votes could be seen to not hold true to the desires of the majority of voters.
There is usually a happy medium to be achieved, and failing to do so risks disastrous consequences when ideologically pure, but fantastical in real world terms, measures are enacted.
At this point, the intersection of Friedrich Hayek’s “Fatal Conceit” of government and the law of unintended consequences rears its ugly head with predictable results.
Any upcoming societal and economic disasters will be in direct proportion to measures passed by 51-50 votes in the Senate.
Dr. JOSEPH CARASTRO IV
Bower Lane
Johns Island
Streets embarrassing
What’s going on with the state of the streets in downtown Charleston?
I am constantly reminded of skiing when driving on the peninsula. I can’t decide whether I am on a slalom course, necessitating quick and short turns, or a mogul field with bumps.
As a resident, it is extremely frustrating and annoying, and for a top tourist destination, it’s embarrassing.
DAVID AVRUTICK
Gibbes Street
Charleston