Lawmaker called ‘n****r’ for supporting removal of Confederate monuments

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A black South Carolina lawmaker who has been advocating for the removal of Confederate monuments recently received a threatening email that called him a “n****r” and told him to “go back to Africa.”

Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat said that he got the message on Thursday from one who identified himself as John Calhoun, which is the name of the seventh vice president of the US. He argued that slavery was a “positive good.”

The email threatened to bring a “group” to Gilliard’s home and says, “We wear suits. No sheet.”

The full email message said, “We tired [sic] being understanding with you N*****s! If you don’t like the Flag and our monuments you should go back home to Africa. This our country and we both know you will not have your way. We despise you and I don’t understand why you’re fighting a losing battle. What’s your address? Maybe I will bring my group to your house. We wear suits. No sheet. How about 3AM?”

Gilliard says, “Hate groups are on the rise in South Carolina. The Klan and skinheads are growing in numbers.”

— Missouri state rep: Person who vandalized Confederate statue should be ‘hung from a tall tree’ — 

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center there are 12 active hate groups in South Carolina. That may sound like a lot but just 10 years ago there were 43 groups.

Heidi Beirich, the intelligence policy director at SPLC says that we need to remember that much of what these groups do can now be done online which has expanded their reach to people who aren’t necessarily affiliated with any particular group.

Dylann Roof, the Charleston shooter for example, murdered nine black people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in of June 2015.

“Dylann Roof was radicalized online, and that makes him just like a lot of ISIS killers who have no connection to the Islamic State,” Beirich said.

The email to Gilliard came a couple of weeks after he argued there were places for Confederate monuments other than public parks and squares.

“If I was mayor of this city, I would bring those statues down,” Gilliard told The Post and Courier, a Charleston newspaper. “Not to erase anything, but I would put them in a museum. To me, that’s the answer to all of this.”

He says that these monuments are an “economic killer” and that they discourage people from visiting Charleston.

About life after the threat, “I’ll go on with my everyday life. This is my hometown,” Gilliard said. “I believe in what I’m doing, and many other people believe in what I’m doing. We always have to stand for what’s right.”