Congressman James E. Clyburn issued a defense of student activism at South Carolina State University, drawing parallels between current protests and his own arrests during the 1960s Civil Rights movement. Clyburn criticized the Lieutenant Governor’s characterization of students as a “woke mob,” arguing that peaceful demonstration is a constitutional right and a sign of independent thinking rather than a lack of readiness. His statement serves as a rebuke to state legislators currently threatening to defund the institution over the commencement dispute.
The full statement is provided below:
“On Friday, May 8, I plan to join my surviving classmates from the 1961 Class of South Carolina State, celebrating our 65th anniversary from our graduation from that institution. I’ve always been proud of my class.
“Back in 1957, our freshman class decided to put a float in a homecoming parade. But when we submitted our plans, the school rejected it. They felt that our rock and roll theme was inappropriate for the homecoming parade. We begged to differ.
“We challenged that rejection. We protested. We won the protest. And not only did our float get in the parade, but the judges gave our float second place.
“Now later, in 1960, March 15, my classmates and I joined more than a thousand other students from State and Claflin and marched on the square in Orangeburg, to challenge segregated lunch counters.
“Nearly 400 of us were arrested on that day. And when we went to trial, I have always been very proud that our Attorney Matthew J. Perry, said to me that I was his prize witness at that trial. I wore that moniker with great pride.
“My mother often said to me how proud to me she was of what we were doing down there at South Carolina State.
“I believed that the parents of those protesting students there today, are just as proud of their children as my mother was of us.
“You see – parents don’t send their children to school for them to become puppets, or for them to rubber stamp everything that is fed to them. No. They send them to school to learn to be independent thinkers, and for them to develop the tools they will need to succeed in their endeavors.
“I was very disappointed when our Lt. Governor referred to those students as a woke mob. Now I must admit, I don’t know what woke means. But I know what mob means. I know what a mob is.
“And students peacefully protesting is not a mob mentality. Unfortunately, our Lt. Governor did not display gubernatorial readiness by her tirades and her subsequent acquiescence that seem to be a little bit agreeable with those legislators who called for the defunding of South Carolina State because some of its students protested as their constitution gives them the right and as they were taught to be part of their civic responsibilities.
“They were putting it to practice those things that they were taught, and seem to have learned.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend at South Carolina State – and I am sure that I won’t get to spend as much time with them as I hoped because I’m going to split the weekend with the graduating students and their parents at Allen University in Columbia.
“But I want to congratulate all the graduates across the state and around the country. You are embarking upon an uncertain future, but I have full faith and confidence that you have learned some valuable lessons that you will put into practice, and I hope you do so well.
“And while you’re doing so, please keep in the forefront the Prayer of Serenity which reads, “God give me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
“Good luck, and God speed.”
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