Lawsuit prompts bill changing ‘racial quota' rules for SC's minority affairs board

Yahoo

08-04-2025

Chief Michelle Mitchum of South Carolina's Pine Hill Indian community testified Tuesday, April 8, 2025, before a Senate panel in favor of legislation to remove from state law a requirement that a majority of the governing board for the state Commission for Minority Affairs be African American. Mitchum is one of two plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)
COLUMBIA — A pair of senators wants to remove a provision in state law that requires South Carolina's Commission for Minority Affairs to have a majority-Black governing board.
The bill comes in the wake of a federal lawsuit filed by two women who say they were denied a spot on the commission when they sought to represent other minority groups. It's co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, a white Republican from Edgefield, and Sen. Darrell Jackson, a Black Democrat from Hopkins.
A Senate panel voted unanimously Tuesday to advance the bill to the full Senate Judiciary Committee. Half of the six 'yes' votes came from Black legislators.
Sandy Chiong, a Myrtle Beach-area woman of Chinese and Cuban heritage, was the first to file suit in December seeking a seat on the commission's governing board.
The commission's governing board is made up of one person from each of South Carolina's seven congressional districts, as well as two at-large seats and the governor or his designee. The specification in the 1993 law that most of the board's nine members 'must be African American' violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, the lawsuit claimed.
SC woman sues over 'racial quota' for minority affairs board
'In America, government positions are supposed to be open to all citizens — not restricted to members of favored groups,' Chiong's lawyers wrote in court documents. 'A racial quota prevents her from being considered for a position on an equal basis with other candidates.'
Chief Michelle Mitchum of South Carolina's Pine Hill Indian community later joined the lawsuit. Pine Hill, whose members once inhabited what became the U.S. Army's Fort Jackson, is not a federal- or state-recognized tribe. However, South Carolina does recognize it as a special interest organization led by Mitchum.
A Senate panel heard from Mitchum on Tuesday, as well as from the director of the small state agency, Delores Dacosta. Both women spoke in favor of the bill.
When the Legislature established the Commission for Minority Affairs, the agency focused on addressing 'inequities impacting African American communities,' hence the legislative mandate that its membership reflect the population it was formed to serve.
In 2003, its scope was broadened to include Asian Americans, Hispanic and Latino Americans, and Native Americans, according to agency documents. But the language governing the board's makeup remained in place.
'We support this change to allow for the selection of commissioners to reflect the populations that we serve,' Dacosta said.
The agency holds community and networking events for minority businesspeople in the state.
It also puts out research each year tracking the growth of minority populations — where they're living in South Carolina, where their children go to school, and their average income compared to the overall population — as well as disparities when it comes to health and affordable housing.
'I don't see where this is going to hurt the commission,' Dacosta said about the bill. 'As a matter of fact, I think it's going to benefit because we have grown so much.'
Dacosta said when she started as head of the agency in 2018, it employed just nine people, six of those full time. Today, the agency has 24 employees.
'Our research is so broad … we need to see different faces on the board,' Dacosta added.
The legislation strikes language in the law relating to Black board members without replacing it with any new racial requirements for the commissioners.
Mitchum told senators they should instead set new criteria for minority membership, though she didn't give any suggestions.
'I would like for you to replace the language — not just strike it,' she said. 'Don't respond to a lawsuit. Actually represent the minority population; actually lift our voice.'
Black residents are the largest racial minority in South Carolina, at 26% of the state population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Hispanic residents make up 7.5% of the population, followed by 2% Asian and less than 1% Native American.
Chiong, who is the daughter of Cuban immigrants and is of Chinese, Cuban, and Spanish descent, did not come to Columbia to testify.
Five of the board's six current members are Black. Vacancies are in the 3rd District, which runs from Edgefield County to the state's northwestern corner; the 4th District, which includes most of Greenville and Spartanburg counties; and one at-large member.
Two board members are serving past the expiration of their term in what's known as holdover status, including the representative for the 7th District, where Chiong lives.
Dacosta said the commission has pending applications for two board appointments — the vacant 4th District seat and the expired term in the 6th District — and is 'waiting to fill the other slots.'
The governor's office also is in the process of nominating someone to fill the vacant 3rd District seat, spokesman Brandon Charochak said.
Four members of the commission are serving active terms. But three of their terms expire in July, according to the lawsuit.