When white people die, SC laws change. Why haven’t Black deaths led to state hate crimes law?

While the deaths of white victims in recent years have spurred numerous changes in South Carolina law, the state’s refusal to pass a hate crimes law sends an “outrageous” message about the value placed on Black lives, some Black lawmakers say.

Since 2016, three bills in South Carolina have become law following the death of a white person, including the Tucker Hipps Transparency Act, the Samantha L. Josephson Rideshare Safety Act and Gavin’s Law. Meanwhile, repeated calls for a hate crimes law — particularly after nine Black people, including a state senator, were killed in 2015 at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston — remain unanswered.

“It doesn’t speak well for the state, nor of its elected officials,” said state Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleson, who for years has spearheaded several hate crimes measures. “When (Samantha Josephson) tragically lost her life, the Uber bill sailed through the House and Senate. Here we are in South Carolina, coming up on eight years since the (Mother Emanuel) tragedy, and we can’t even get (hate crimes) past the Senate. That is outrageous.”

Hate crime laws typically increase penalties for people who commit crimes based on a person’s protected status, including race, age, gender, religion and sexual orientation.

South Carolina is the only state in the Southeast without a hate crimes law, and one of only two in the nation without some sort of legislation addressing hate crimes, alongside Wyoming.

Gilliard began pushing for hate crimes legislation shortly after a white supremacist massacred nine Black parishioners in 2015 at Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church. The victims included state Sen. Clementa Pinckney, Emanuel’s pastor.

On two occasions, The Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act cleared the House but stalled in the Senate, including this year.

The measure, which passed the House in March by a vote of 84-31, would enhance penalties for certain crimes motivated by hate toward a protected class while also allowing a victim’s relatives to sue the perpetrator for monetary damages. The bill does not specify how penalties would be enhanced nor the crimes that would trigger them.

Supporters of the measure chiefly blame Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, for blocking the bill.

Massey “is single handedly holding up a debate and a vote on hate crimes,” said state Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, who recently took to the Senate floor every day for several weeks during a special session to call for a debate on the bill. “The bill is on the calendar. The only thing (Massey) has to do is to move for debate, and we will debate and vote it up and down.

“Some (lawmakers) know that if the hate crimes bill comes up for debate, it will pass,” Jackson added. “So this is solely on Shane Massey.”

But Massey argues he’s not the singular cause of the bill stalling in the Senate and that there are plenty of people who have legitimate objections to hate crimes legislation.

“I get it, they’ve got to find a boogeyman and they’ve got to find somebody they want to beat on,” Massey said, referring to Democratic supporters of the bill. “But repeatedly calling me a racist is not going to get them what they want.”

Massey did not specify who called him a racist.

State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, who has sponsored and advocated for hate crimes legislation, said the legislature has passed laws after the deaths of Black people. The legislature acted after a North Charleston police officer shot a man in the back and after the Emanuel AME Church shooting, when the Confederate flag was moved from the State House grounds.

“Those are two instances where two substantial public policy changes resulted from an African American being murdered,” Davis said.

He also said Massey lacks the ability to unilaterally block the bill.

“I think it’s fair to say that (Massey) is not a proponent and that he is an active opponent of hate crimes legislation,” Davis said. “But it isn’t fair to say that he unilaterally is holding it up. Shane is going to, as majority leader, reflect the will of the majority, and if a majority of the 30 members in the Republican caucus want to have this thing set for debate, it will be set.”

That means at least 16 out of 30 Republican senators must be in favor of debating the measure on special order.

“When (Massey) asked that question in the past of the Republican caucus, he’s not had 16 hands go in the air. He’s had less than that,” Davis said.

A ‘disingenuous’ link

Massey maintains that hate crimes legislation would do nothing to prevent crimes that are motivated by hate toward a protected class. Linking a bill to the Mother Emanuel tragedy, he said, is “disingenuous” because it’s “more about the show than addressing the problem.”

“There’s nothing in that (hate crimes) bill that would have protected those nine people,” Massey said. “There’s nothing in that bill that would have increased the punishment that the murderer received. Under state law, that guy was eligible for the death penalty. What penalty would you have given in addition to that?”

The shooter, Dylann Roof, was convicted in a federal trial in Charleston and sentenced to death. He later pleaded guilty in state court and received nine life sentences.

But Jackson said it’s important that South Carolina send a message about crimes motivated by hate.

“One of the things Massey said to me on the (Senate) floor, when I was trying to convince him to bring up the hate crimes bill for debate, was, ‘Well, this bill is frivolous. It’s just a feel-good bill,’ which insulted me when you think of all the bills that we’ve passed for symbolic reasons, for reasons none other than to send a message that says, ‘That’s not who we are,’” Jackson said.

Massey represents District 25, which includes all of Edgefield County and parts of Aiken, Lexington, McCormick and Saluda counties. The district is 69% white and 20% Black.

Majority of hate crimes in SC based on race

Overwhelmingly, the highest number of hate crimes committed in South Carolina are based on race, according to the latest data from the FBI.

In 2021, of the 122 hate crimes committed in South Carolina, 49 — or 40% — were based on race.

Hate crimes are reported by city, county and state law enforcement agencies. Crimes are classified by person, property and society.

But as that number of hate crimes has declined — from 58 to 49 from 2020 to 2021 — hate crimes involving religion or sexual orientation have risen.

Crimes committed against persons based on religion rose from 31 to 32 over that same period, and crimes against persons based on sexual orientation increased from 12 to 21.

White deaths resulted in new laws

Massey denied that certain white deaths have resulted in new laws while Black deaths have not.

“If the angle is that the Legislature will only do stuff when they’re white crime victims and won’t do anything when they’re Black crime victims, that’s crap,” Massey said.

The legislature has passed several high-profile laws in direct response to deaths of white victims.

Last month, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill — Gavin’s Law — that makes sexual extortion or “sextortion” a felony offense, which becomes aggravated if the victim is a minor.

The measure was sponsored by freshman state Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-York, whose 17-year-old-son, Gavin, died by suicide last summer after falling victim to an online sextortion scheme.

Guffey’s bill received bipartisan support, passing the House 107-0 and the Senate 43-0.

Guffey had previously voted against the hate crimes proposal — a decision he now says he regrets.

“I listened to my constituents back home and I voted against it, but I really felt horrible afterwards,” Guffey said. “It’s the only time in my life I ever felt like a politician, and I promised myself I would never feel that way again. I will vote with my heart, and if my constituents don’t like it, they can vote me out.”

With similar swiftness to the passing of Gavin’s Law, lawmakers in 2019 passed the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Act after a University of South Carolina student got into what she thought was her Uber following a night out in Columbia’s Five Points district. The next day, Josephson was found stabbed to death in a rural part of Clarendon County.

The Josephson act requires drivers working for rideshare companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to display license plate numbers in the front and back of their vehicles, aiming to make it easier for a rider to verify the driver’s identity. Complying with this requirement could be as simple as a driver penning their license tag number onto a sheet of paper and taping it to their windshields.

The law also created misdemeanor penalties for anyone who misrepresent themselves as a rideshare driver — by, for example, displaying an illuminated sign — to commit a crime, including a $500 fine or 30 days in jail.

That bill passed 99-1 in the House and 41-0 in the Senate.

And in 2016, policymakers passed the Tucker Hipps Transparency Act after a Clemson University student died during an early morning run. His parents claimed the student died from hazing. The House passed the bill unanimously.

The Hipps Act mandates four-year public colleges, with the exception of the Medical University of South Carolina and The Citadel, report violations related to drugs, alcohol, sexual assault, threats and hazing by Greek organizations to the institution’s website. Schools also were required to post violations dating back to January 2011.

Though a number of policy changes have occurred following the death of white crime victims, Davis and Massey pointed to the death of Walter Scott, a Black man who was shot in the back while running away from police in North Charleston following a traffic stop in 2015.

“In the wake of that, we passed mandatory police body camera laws,” Davis said. “So, (Scott’s death) was the direct impetus for getting that law across the finish line.

“And in regard to the Emanuel nine, you’re right, we didn’t see hate crimes legislation passed,” Davis continued, “but we did pass legislation in the immediate aftermath of that that removed the Confederate flag from the State House grounds, which was a huge political hot potato that no Republican wanted to touch.”

Gilliard said while he will continue to push for a hate crimes bill, national-level leaders from South Carolina could do more to help the cause. He mentioned U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and former Gov. Nikki Haley, who are seeking the Republican presidential nomination.

“How can you have Tim Scott and Nikki Haley march around the country talking about equal justice for all, and we don’t even have a hate crimes law in South Carolina? It’s just a shame,” Gilliard said.