The town of Sullivan’s Island plans to mark the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan’s Island with signs on both ends of the island that read “Gateway to Liberty.”
I find this deeply misguided.
Sullivan’s Island was also the gateway to bondage for thousands of African men, women and children who arrived here in chains to be sold into slavery. Historians estimate that nearly half of all African Americans today can trace their ancestry to this very shoreline.
I have raised these concerns publicly: in letters, at the last Town Council meeting and even in a direct phone call with the mayor. I have been met with indifference from the council. The mayor dismissed my concerns as “a moment of heat that will pass” and added, “I cannot connect the dots between ‘Gateway to Liberty’ and ‘Gateway to Bondage.’”
After I spoke at the meeting, Councilmember Jodi Latham reached out with candor, writing, “I am embarrassed to say the history of the island as a slave quarantine did not come to mind when the proposal was made.” The mayor himself admitted that the history of enslavement and the island’s role in it were not discussed when selecting the slogan “Gateway to Liberty” for the signs.
Now that the oversight has been acknowledged, why not correct it?
I fully support commemorating SC250 and honoring the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. But the slogan “Gateway to Liberty” erases the deeper, more complex history of our island. Something as simple and honest as “History Lives Here”—or one of countless other possibilities—could still honor those who fought for liberty while also acknowledging those who were denied it.
It is right to honor Sullivan’s Island’s important role in the history of America’s fight for independence. But let us also be honest about the freedom struggle that began here for so many enslaved Africans. That, too, is part of our shared history. However uncomfortable it may be, it is the truth.
What I am asking Town Council is not radical. It is a simple pivot: choose a slogan that reflects the full story—one that is thoughtful, sensitive and worthy of the history that unfolded on this island, for all who passed through its gates.
Respectfully,
Kimberly Brown
2118 Pettigrew St.
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