We Know Our History - Part I

I'm guessing that by now, most of you have read somewhere about the nomination of Nikki Haley as the Republican candidate for South Carolina's governor.  It's made news all over the country.

The LA Times began one of their articles with this:
In a break from the state's racist legacy, South Carolina Republicans overwhelmingly chose Nikki Haley, an Indian American woman, to run for governor and convincingly nominated Tim Scott, who could become the former Confederate stronghold's first black GOP congressman in more than a century.

It continues:
In a fitting twist, Haley planned her victory party at the entrance to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum.... (Tim) Scott, 44, also a state lawmaker, beat Paul Thurmond, son of the late U.S. senator and former segregationist Strom Thurmond, in the runoff.... The GOP-leaning district stretches down the Carolina coast and includes Ft. Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.

I am thrilled for both of these nominees and the fact that they are both brilliant up-and-comers on the national front.  I voted for Haley and would have voted for Scott if I lived in his district.  However, I am so tired of how the rest of the country continues to highlight unflattering events of my beloved state's history.  We are an easy target, no doubt.  However, this "steel magnolia" is not alone in her frustration.

I get our history.  I understand my own family's contributions, neither blatantly benign nor malignant. My father's family were large plantations owners throughout the Low Country of South Carolina.  He grew up with "the help", having maids and cooks in his home in Columbia and another cook when the family summered at their home at Pawleys Island.  I just finished reading Kathryn Stockett's book The Help and I admit that I felt uncomfortable at times reading it.  Although I know my grandmother and grandfather were very generous and caring to Elsie, I wonder what sometimes went on in her mind and heart.

But there is another side.  Another story.  One that if you don't live down here, you might not understand or have any knowledge of it at all.  I hope you will read it in the next day or two...