The Collegian

Issue date: 2/9/09 Section: News

Students, Staff and Friends of the University, gathered to view the lighing of the ceremonial flame at the memprial for the victims of the Orangeburg Massacre [Click to enlarge]

Forty one years after Orangeburg's bloodiest battles in the fight for equality, SC State and the community of Orangeburg, paused to remember their heroes and expose hidden facts.

The premiere of Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968, was given a standing ovation by those assembled at the Martin Luther King Jr., auditorium, but while it exposed many unknown facts to some, others like John Stroman who played a pivotal role in organizing the protests at the Bowling Alley, still say a few key elements were left out.

The Orangeburg Massacre was the climax of week-long protests against Harry Floyd, owner of Floyd's All Star Bowling Lanes who refused to let black students bowl at his establishment. Three students, Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton, were killed and 27 others wounded after Orangeburg Police shot into the crowd of unarmed protesters on the campus of the then SC State College.

Miss SC State, Uchechi Egbuhuzo said the film revealed the true emotions of what was going on at SC State's campus that a book cannot describe. "It could have been anyone," she said when she described a scene in the move that made her cry. "This guy was in the hospital lying head to head with another student [Henry Smith] who was shot," she said.

"Smith said to him, "are we going to be ok," and he replied yes sure, we'll be back on campus soon. Seconds later he [Smith] was dead." What the film did not reveal about Smith's death is that, although he was shot, he was also beaten severely in the hospital for calling a white nurse the B-Word. This is according to Stroman who is calling for the investigation into the events surrounding the Massacre to be re-opened.

Stroman now 66, has never missed a commemorative ceremony since it began in 1969. In fact, in an interview with The Collegian, he recalls having to fight to ensure that Presidents of SC State College continue to have this ceremony. "They said that those kinds of celebrations divide us, and that we are all one now. But what about, having a street named after John C. Calhoun (a strong supporter of slavery and segregation in S.C.) and Maurice's Bar-B-Que Restaurant; (wears the confederate flag.) Doesn't that divide us?

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools