On Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, Black Lives Matters activists showed up to protest against defenders of a monument of John C. Calhoun, an ardent proponent of slavery and the seventh vice-president of the United States. Then a group of white activists reportedly calling themselves “Stand As One” showed up brandishing signs allegedly emblazoned “Cracker for Sale” and “Hang that Cracker.” Some of the men were bare-chested with what looked like body makeup replicating whiplash scars on their backs, some had ropes tied around their necks and were led by black men to reenact historical roles as slaves in reverse, and some activists shouted rhetoric such as “What if this was your history” and “What if the roles were reversed?”
Good afternoon. I’m here at Marion Square where a group defending the John C. Calhoun monument is giving a speech soon. Black Lives Matter protesters have gathered nearby. Some people, who found out about the event on Facebook, are bringing signs to the park to support Calhoun. pic.twitter.com/vDbwFfKqkv
— Thomas Novelly (@TomNovelly) June 22, 2020
Another group, unclear what the affiliation is, walked past the Calhoun defenders showcasing this. Their signs read “What if this was your history.” pic.twitter.com/vFYn0h5wfC
— Thomas Novelly (@TomNovelly) June 22, 2020
That precipitated fury from the Black Lives Matters protesters; one BLM activist yelled at one of the white activists, “Put that s*** down, sister! Don’t do that! Why are you here? Your attitude! I know you’re f***ing kidding me! I know you’re f***ing kidding me!”
This group, which self-identified as Stand As One, is now getting yelled at by BLM. The two are arguing about the their message. The group who brought the slave demonstration were told to leave and exited Marion Square. pic.twitter.com/ZJROYJVfHj
— Thomas Novelly (@TomNovelly) June 22, 2020
Calhoun, who died in 1850, did not want the South to secede, but his devotion to the cause of slavery laid the groundwork for the Civil War, as historynet.com notes. He was elected to Congress in 1810 as a federalist along with House Speaker Henry Clay of Kentucky. In 1817 he became President James Monroe’s secretary of war, strengthened the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and instituted reforms of the U.S. Army which last roughly one hundred years.
Calhoun served as vice-president under John Quincy Adams in 1824, but switched to he Democratic Party in 1828 to run as the vice-presidential candidate under Andrew Jackson because he disapproved of Adams expanding federal power; Jackson and Calhoun won the election.
When Congress passed a tariff that Southerners felt tilted the scales toward the north, Calhoun wrote an essay titled “South Carolina Exposition and Protest” that argued states had a constitutional right to nullify federal government actions they regarded as unconstitutional, thus cementing his position as the leading proponent of states’ rights.
Calhoun ultimately left Jackson’s administration and became a U.S. senator. Desirous of protecting the economic power of the South, Calhoun championed slavery, saying, “I have ever had but one opinion on the subject. Our fate as a people is bound up in the question.” He argued that the Constitution denied Congress power over slavery. He asserted that the South “cannot remain here in an endless struggle in defense of our character, our property, and institutions,” saying that unless abolitionist work came to a halt, “we must become, finally, two peoples…. Abolition and the Union cannot co-exist.”
Calhoun stated, “Never before has the black race…from the dawn of history to the present day, attained a condition so civilized and so improved, not only physically, but morally and intellectually. It came to us in a low, degraded, and savage condition, and in the course of a few generations it has grown up under the fostering care of our institutions.”
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