The South Carolina Black History calendar for 2026 honored Bishop Henry McNeal Turner by inclusion in the calendar, but the South Carolina Department of Education completely whitewashed his contributions. He would be totally outraged at what they have done to his image.
Bishop Turner was born to non-enslaved parents in Newberry, South Carolina in 1834. They are described as being “free” but any student of history knows that at no time in the history of the United States have any people of Afrikan origin been truly “free”. Non-enslaved perhaps or “loose” (as my late friend, Joe E. Benton frequently said).
He was an achiever. He was the 12th elected Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church and established many new congregations, some named for him. There are at least six churches from Maryland to Florida named either Turner Memorial or Turner Chapel AME Church.
He was editor of the AME journal and founded newspapers, including The Voice of Missions.
He was a politician and was elected to the Georgia state legislature with thirty-two other Black men in 1868. When the legislature convened, however, the racist Democratic majority voter to expel the thirty-three Black legislators, the reason given was that they were not qualified to hold office although they could legally vote.
Turner was the first Black chaplain in the United States Army.
Most importantly, he was an ardent Black Nationalist. This was the crux of his identity. This fact is obvious in his quotes:
“I am a member of this body. Therefore, sir, I shall neither fawn nor cringe before any party, nor stoop to beg…I am here to demand my rights, and to hurl thunderbolts at the men who would dare to cross the threshold of my manhood.” This was his speech before being expelled from the Georgia legislature.
“Every race of people since time began who have attempted to describe God by words or painting, or by carvings, have conveyed their idea that the God who made them and shaped their destinies was symbolized in themselves…”. He went on to proclaim that “God is a Negro”.
“I know we are Americans to all intents and purposes. we are born here, raised here, fought, bled and died here, and have a thousand times more right here than hundreds of thousands of those who help to snub, proscribe and persecute us, and that is one of the reasons I almost despise the land of my birth”.
“I used to love what I thought was the grand old flag, and sing with ecstasy about the Stars and Stripes, but to the Negro in this country the American flag is a dirty and contemptible rag.”
“The Fourth of July-memorable in the history of our nation as the great day of independence to its countrymen-had no claim upon our sympathies. they made a flag and threw it to the heavens and bid it float forever; but every star in it was against us.”
“The negro race has as much chance in the U.S….of being a man as a frog has in a snake den”
As a result of his nationalism and his disillusionment with the status of Blacks in the United States, he was a strong supporter of Black emigration to Afrika, especially to Liberia. He organized ships that carried more than five-hundred people to Liberia between 1895 and 1896.
The bulk of the South Carolina calendar (the theme was Revolutionary) was dedicated to honoring several Black men from South Carolina who fought for the Americans during the Revolutionary War. They were among the 5,000 Blacks who fought for the “patriots” (this is the average agreed upon number although some estimates go as high as 10,000). What is not mentioned is that more than 20,000 Blacks fought for the British, including several who were enslaved by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. The same thing happened during the War of 1812, that is many more AUSA fought for the British than for the Americans.
The nods to Mother Septima Poinsette Clark and Dr. Benjamin Mayes were less egregious. but they were equally turned into “acceptable” figures.
The calendar unveiling ceremony was also problematic. It was beyond ironic and probably symbolic of where the South Carolina conservatives want to go that at a program honoring Black history, a white high school jazz band was chosen as the entertainment.
At the calendar unveiling ceremony, the height of either
