The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is huge and divided into five levels.
The building is divided by chronology. The basement holds artifacts and information from the earliest history dealing with the slave trade, Middle Passage and more.
I lingered too long there, often fighting tears. And I was too ashamed to make eye contact with the many black visitors.
Finally, out of time, I rode the escalator up several levels. I moved past Reconstruction and the Jim Crow years. Past segregation and the Martin Luther King Jr. sections.
I went up toward the “Spirit of Tuskegee” hanging from the ceiling. The blue and yellow Stearman PT 13-D was used to train black pilots from 1944 to 1946.
Of course with each level, the history of black lives improved toward more political and socio-economic equality.
On the top floor were exhibits on Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and former President Barack Obama.
The escalator was a long one, and slow.
But I saw it didn’t need to be. Those around me who stepped on as they rode could accelerate their ascent.
WILL FELTS
James Island
NC a poor example
Regarding the Jan. 9 editorial on Gov. Henry McMaster’s good idea for South Carolina colleges, the choice of North Carolina as one of the examples to follow is a poor one.
That university system is consolidated under a single board of governors appointed by the state legislature, making it completely political.
I need cite only one example: The current chair of the board did not even attend a four-year college.
The board is out of step with good education practices and tends to be extremely partisan.
While the S.C. governing bodies are inefficient, beware what you ask for.
JAN ANDERSON
Isle of Palms
Ukraine help needed
I remember when President Ronald Reagan funded anti-communist insurgents around the world, put nuclear missiles in Europe and invaded Grenada as he stood up to the Soviet Union.
His courage eventually helped bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War.
“Time and again in the course of our history, we’ve aided those around the world struggling for freedom, democracy, independence and liberation from tyranny,” Reagan said in a 1985 speech. “It’s not in the American tradition to turn away.”
Four of South Carolina’s six GOP House members — Jeff Duncan of Laurens, William Timmons of Greenville, Ralph Norman of Rock Hill and Russell Fry of Murrells Inlet — all received an F grade on the Republicans for Ukraine congressional scorecard.
A fifth, Nancy Mace of Charleston, got a C-. Joe Wilson of Columbia is the only one who showed guts. He got an A.
I urge South Carolina voters to pay attention.
RUDOLPH BELL
Liberty
Send us your letters
To submit a letter to the editor, send an email to letters@postandcourier.com or fill out the form on our online portal.
Letters can be a maximum of 250 words and are subject to editing for clarity, tone and libel. They must carry the writer’s name and address for publication and a daytime telephone number for verification.