Orangeburg Massacre Essay

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On February 8th, 1968, shots were fired on a crowd of civil rights protesters and that day became known as one of the saddest days in South Carolina history. Many problems occurred in South Carolina, mostly between blacks and whites over issues about civil rights and segregation. These issues in South Carolina lasted many years and led to many events, protests, and even massacres that all resulted in sometimes very horrible outcomes but also bringing South Carolina one step further to getting rid of segregation. One horrible event that took place in the late 60’s was the Orangeburg Massacre that resulted in a few deaths and some injuries but also furthered integration in Orangeburg. In 1968, due to the conflict between civil rights protestors …show more content…

Although the massacre took place in 1968, many events relating back to segregation and civil rights took place prior to the Massacre that could have influenced the event to happen. There were problems all throughout South Carolina for many years but in Orangeburg “during the 1950’s and 1960’s it was a center for racial disturbances”(Pulaski 2). During the time, the population of Orangeburg was majority blacks but what brought about all of these problems was that the county was governed by white officials that did everything they could to maintain power in the community which caused many problems between the two races (Pulaski 2-3). The owner of All Star Bowling Alley, Harry K. Floyd, claims that the bowling alley was exempt from federal law and refused to integrate it (All Star Bowling - Orangeburg). This plays a big role later as the bowling alley was a major location for the massacre. Also during this time there were many other problems all over the southeast that also could have influenced ideas to protest. These events go back to conflicts over segregation and civil rights between whites and blacks so it seems to be a recurring problem in the South and all these protests and problems could have very well influenced the …show more content…

As a result of the massacre it led to the integration of the bowling alley which was a change as “the segregated bowling alley was a rarity in Orangeburg because most public places in the city were integrated” (All Star Bowling Lane). With the bowling alley now being integrated, this puts the city of Orangeburg and South Carolina one step closer to integration. This was a big change for some people and especially the whites. The whites were the ones that had to conform to the change as this is not what they wanted and also they were the ones that wanted to have control over the community as they were the ones who governed the county (Pulaski 2-3). According the mayor of Charleston at the time, J. Palmer Gaillard, “ ‘Our biggest problems were not with blacks, but with whites’ “ (All Star Bowling Lane) all going back to whites having to conform to this new change of integration and it being a big change for the

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