By Burnett W. “Kwadwo” Gallman, Jr. M.D.
COMMENTARY 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 congre-