33 SC Democrats want to censure Midlands lawmaker accused of racism in Facebook post
After a South Carolina state representative was accused of racism for a Facebook post in which he said white people are “vilified by the left,” more than 30 Democrats called for him to be formally censured by the House on Thursday.
The call is the latest consequence S.C. Rep. Vic Dabney, R-Kershaw, whose post is also being investigated by the House Speaker’s Office, may face.
Dabney received backlash after he posted on Facebook that he would be voting against the hate crimes bill Wednesday, adding that he would not “bow down to the ‘Left.’ ”
Lawmakers ultimately voted 79-29 to pass the bill, with Dabney voting against it.
Dabney said in the post he thinks white people are “constantly reminded that we are the problem because of our skin color.”
“We are the reason that blacks can’t seem to succeed in our society,” Dabney wrote. “We are the reason that black crime rates are ten times that of others. We are the reason that the black family unit has been destroyed and most young black children don’t have a father figure in the home. It’s all because of the light color of our skin, at least that is what I am told on a regular basis.”
Dabney got near immediate push back, with several of his colleagues and other prominent South Carolina Democrats calling for his removal from House committees or for him to outright resign.
Dabney responded in an interview with The State calling the allegations of racism “ridiculous,” but then accused Democrats of bringing up race on any controversial issue on the floor, calling it their “go-to.”
The post was later removed from Facebook.
In their resolution to censure Dabney, 33 House Democrats allege the Kershaw Republican violated a House rule that prevents members from personally attacking each other.
In the resolution, the Democrats say that Dabney’s comments “were so egregious as to amount to personal attacks upon members of the House of Representatives.” They also called Dabney’s conduct “unbecoming of a member of the House of Representatives” that has “brought dishonor to himself, the state of South Carolina and to its citizens.”
Dabney told The State Friday morning he suspected Democrats would try to censure him, adding that he wasn’t “mad at them for that.”
“Let them do it,” Dabney said. “I’ll stand up and take my beating, and that’ll be the end of it.”
