South Carolina Lawmaker Defends 'Slave Garb' Picture (PHOTO AVAILABLE)

By: John Lester
Staff Writer
Published: Sep 17, 2021

South Carolina lawmaker defends 'Slave Garb' picture and says it was only a 'friendly photo' among friends.

South Carolina lawmaker defends 'slave garb' picture and said it was nothing more than a 'friendly photograph' taken with friends.

South Carolina Senate President Glenn McConnell is dressed in a Civil War-era uniform with two African-Americans in this photo. It was taken in Charleston last week during the Republican women's conference.

The picture found its way on the Internet dubbed "Slave Garb" and McConnell said everyone was wearing Civil War costumes, and it was an innocent moment among friends.

The media circulated the photo because McConnell is a Charleston Republican and perhaps the most powerful lawmaker in the state of South Carolina. He is also head of the pivotal Senate Judiciary Committee.

"It was a friendly photograph," McConnell said in a statement. "It's a great statement as to how far this state has come."

However, others didn't see it that way. "That's the senator's unfortunate world view," said Rev. Joe Darby, first vice president of the state NAACP, pointing out the subservient role with the African-Americans in the photograph. "The troubling question is how much does his world view affect his approach to public policy?"

South Carolina once had the nation's second-largest slave port in Charleston, where the photo was taken.

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