I did participate in the King Day March in 1999. At the time it felt as if maybe change was in the air but it was not to be. I refer you to the item recently posted concerning an experiment in Clarendon School District One. This project also offers some rays of hope. Other efforts are underway in the State such as the Riley Institute program at Furman University and the Palmetto Project that hold great promise.

In South Carolina, however, we are distracted from seriously addressing the problem by the Confederate flag issue. The issue that no one wants to talk about - the issue that is symbolic of our inability to face race relations straight on. Yet, until that issue is satisfactorily addressed, can we truly get to the more fundamental issue - and just what is the fundamental issue? What is it going to take to remove that symbolic obstacle to our growth as an inclusive society that maximizes opportunity for all? It is going to take a leader or leaders who can frame the question in a way that challenges us to reconcile our history with our future, not choose between one or the other.

If the issue is simply equal opportunity - if that is the vision then it should become amazingly simple to address those things that are obstacles to reaching that goal.

I remember an occasion about 10 or so years ago when I was having lunch with two friends; both of whom were African American and both of whom were professionals, very successful in their respective fields. Somehow or other the conversation got around to their reflections on what they endured by virtue of being black at the hands of law enforcement, not just as kids, but even then as responsible adults. I (who considered myself knowledgeable about these kinds of things) sat stunned while they recounted some of their experiences. One said he wore a suit and tie any time he went out of his house. Another recounted the story of being upbraided by his father when he was a child for buying a candy bar and leaving the store without having it placed in a paper bag. These reflections were not uttered bitterly, but in a matter-of-fact way that said that's just the way things are here.

Now, you can tell yourself that these kinds of things do not happen in SC anymore and maybe they don't as often at they used to, but what I heard with my own ears will not allow me to forget this experience.

So, at its very root the issue is a personal one and will not be resolved except on a personal level. However, public policy can begin to create the environment where this personal introspection can take place. Out state's problems with education, economic development, and leadership all stem, at least in part, from our cultural response to the race issue. In some areas progress, however slow, is being made. But on some of the larger issues you have to wonder.

Why is education in most rural areas of our state where the population is predominantly black failing to meet 21s century challenges? The "Corridor of Shame" video released a couple of years ago by private sponsors clearly depicts our failure to act. Why did it take 12 years for the SC Supreme Court to rule that the state had failed in its responsibility to provide a "minimally adequate education to all children" and propose some remedies which the legislature has yet to enact?

I grew up in Upstate South Carolina where the African American population was relatively low compared to the low country and I must admit that race relations were not on my radar screen until I started college, and even then, I had other priorities.

As I began to work in communities and watched their diligent efforts to improve their standard of living and their quality of life, I became aware that they were fighting the battle with one hand tied behind their back. They were trying to solve community problems and advance in a highly competitive world while excluding (usually without realizing it) half of their community whose ideas, involvement and participation could have been very valuable.

South Carolina is going to need every asset and ally it can muster to negotiate a future fraught with complexity, competition and challenge. We cannot move forward in this environment if we are dragging the weight of a misguided past behind us.