Letters to the Editor – April 11, 2018

The Fallacy of White Supremacy

For a few years now I have been listening to different individuals speak about the existence and the evils of “White Supremacy”. They speak of institutional racism and microaggressions that show insensitivity and bias against anyone that has a darker skin hue than Jimmy Carter. It is so sad that an entire portion of our population has voluntarily relegated themselves to second class citizenry and choose to live in a state of perpetual victimhood. It is sad when they voluntarily surrender their power to individuals based on the color of their skin. It is truly sad that the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King has been turned into a nightmare and the content of one’s character has no bearing, instead the color of skin is paramount to those that pursue an ideology that must teach this in order to maintain political power. The failures of self are blamed on racism, inequity and inequality. Self-responsibility is afforded only to those that have committed the mentioned offenses due the fact they have the perceived power. But the saddest thing of all is those of us that see and hear the nonsense and lies being preached are silent. Are we so afraid of being ostracized or called a racist for speaking the truth. Are we so complacent that we sit idly by and watch the truth be made a lie? That happened once before in history and millions died even those that sat in silence.

Rujon Williams
Darlington

How do we keep people in Darlington?

Have you noticed when our children go to college very few of them want to return to Darlington? Does this concern you? Do you know why they don’t want to come back home? I think I may have the answer to this burning question, however many of you won’t like what I am about to say.

One of the main reasons is that there are very few job opportunities in Darlington, if you look at the surrounding towns and what they are doing to their downtown areas you will see more people congregating in a positive way. Look at the square in Darlington on a Saturday afternoon and tell me what you see. One restaurant opens on Saturday evening, usually no businesses open, this past Christmas on small business Saturday there were very few options to shop in the square. If you look at Hartsville and Florence, I’m certain they had many shops open on the same day.

We have the possibility of opening a new restaurant just off the square, but the proprietor has hit a road block with the building inspector and historic commission on certain things he has done. One is to have an open ceiling to highlight the architecture of the building, most people would think that is a good thing, unfortunately the inspector considers it a fire hazard. No open concept in Darlington, or is it no thinking outside of the box? There is also a question about the windows not being historical enough, finding windows that meet the criteria that is expected is hard to do. The restaurateur would also like to have a liquor license to be able to serve mixed drinks with meals, but someone in power does not like this idea at all. Perhaps someone in a vested interested at the country club where you can hob knob with whomever. It would be kind of nice to have some place to go and have a social drink while walking around town.

Have you noticed how the property values in Darlington have decreased in the past three years? My property has decreased in value by about twenty percent, I have a house in Charleston that the value has increased in value by almost forty percent. I guess I should consider that as a positive, but I think the real problem is the difference in leadership at the city council, county council any who we have represent us at the state level in Columbia. What have any of them done to bring industry to the city and county of Darlington? We are in a prime area for transportation with the proximity of two interstates, with another one promised soon, what is being done to utilize this asset?

I’m not sure what the agenda of the city and county councils are, but it seems to me they are complacent in watching our city become a footnote in history. There is more than just a race once a year that will bring much needed revenue into our area. I hope the next election we can elect some people that want to see Darlington grow. Bringing new businesses to the square, along with a chance of a mini brewery or tavern with the possibility of live music may incentivize our young people to want to come back to Darlington. Just something to think about for our next generation.

Larry Donaldson
Darlington

Author: Duane Childers

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