‘Trailblazers’ Johnson, Felder, Fielding: 50 years since integrating SC Legislature

On the twelfth day of the new year in 1971, South Carolina lawmakers ascended on the capital city for the opening session of the 99^th General Assembly. But for three African American men it was a Tuesday of historical proportions — a symbol of progress since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

James Felder, Isaac Samuel (I.S.) Leevy Johnson and Herbert Fielding entered the State House as the first elected Black lawmakers to serve in the Legislature since the turn of the 20^th century.

Today, African American lawmakers currently hold 45 seats in the South Carolina General Assembly — 34 serving in the House and 11 leading in the Senate — representing constituents at every corner of the Palmetto State.

However, it was the election and groundwork started 50 years ago inside the House chamber by Felder, Johnson and the late Fielding that reopened the door of opportunity for statewide Black leadership: African Americans crossing the threshold of the House chamber as legislators — an achievement having not been accomplished since Reconstruction.

“They were trailblazers. Because of their groundbreaking efforts, they made an inroad in terms of other representatives that we elected,” state NAACP President Brenda Murphy said.

“They were the steppingstones through where we are today. They contributed a great deal in terms of our progress.”

For Felder and Johnson — then 31 and 28 years of age — their paths to the Legislature were orchestrated by both Black and white community leaders in Richland County who wanted to see change inside the State House, recognizing it as essential to have Black representation inside the chamber. And drafting the two young attorneys and activists who were leaders in their communities — engaged in the civil rights movement — proved to be successful toward their mission for change.

“Now, in those days, we ran at-large. We didn’t have single-member districts as we have today, we had to travel the entire length and breadth of Richland County, running countywide for a seat. Richland County had eight House seats, we only wanted two,” Felder said.

In Charleston County, businessman Herbert Fielding and James Clyburn were vying for two of 11 seats. And while Clyburn’s campaign to the South Carolina House of Representatives was unsuccessful, the Columbia Democrat went on to make history of his own, becoming majority whip in the U.S. House where he is serving his 15th term.

“The big thing about that election was it highlighted some of the kinds of things that were done to keep black people from getting elected,” Clyburn told The State.

“The impact was significant in that it was the last election under an archaic system that had been designed to keep African Americans from ever getting elected. We had something called the Full Slate Law.”

In 1972, the General Assembly repealed the so-called “Full-Slate Law,” a process that required voters to vote for all the seats being filled by candidates in order for their vote to be counted valid. And in 1974, lawmakers changed the election laws to end at-large elections of legislators and created single-member districts. Reapportionment paved the way for an additional ten African Americans to be elected to the State House — one of the most meaningful moments during his tenure, Felder told The State.

“You do not seek the job. The job seeks you. You have to build a foundation. You have to work for the people in order to get elected to represent the people,” Johnson said.

“African Americans had run for offices for years, and the excuse that white leaders consistently gave was that they could not find — and here’s the operative word — qualified Blacks to get elected. And in our case, our qualifications were equal to or superior to members of the General Assembly.”

From ‘cold warfare’ to acceptance

It was business as usual for many members of the then Democratic-controlled Legislature in 1971 as lawmakers were prepared to take on more than 200 drafted pieces of legislation with priorities ranging from teacher pay raises, reapportionment following the 1970 census to dealing with the budget – facing a potential $159-million deficit if spending was not cut by end of the fiscal year, according to the Sunday, January 10 edition of The State Newspaper.

But for the grandson of a prominent funeral home director and University of South Carolina Law School graduate, the significance of what he and his new colleagues were facing meant more.

“I felt the weight…we recognized that although we were elected from Richland and Charleston County, that we were state legislators and we had an obligation and commitment to people all over the state,” Johnson said.

Johnson added that their successes in law and business before becoming elected officials helped disabuse some stereotypes that may have followed them as Black men. However, their accomplishments prior to entering the State House did not preclude them from facing prevailing, dismissive attitudes from some colleagues who disregarded their presence.

“The first couple of weeks, we were ignored. It was like we were furniture in the room. And then after two weeks, when those fellows realized that our votes had the same weight as theirs, you’d find one of them easing up by your desk,” Felder said.

“After the two weeks, they were speaking to us and we were accepted, but initially it was just cold warfare as you might say.”

And despite earning their prominent position of power inside the chambers — a seemingly positive move toward progress — the prominently displayed Confederate flags atop the State House dome and hanging inside the chambers were daily reminders of how far the state needed to grow in terms of race relations. The flag’s removal became part of their mission for change in the Legislature.

“The flag was an issue. As a matter of fact…we wouldn’t go into the chamber until after they recited the pledge of allegiance each day because in the House chamber, the Senate chamber and on the dome, you had the Confederate flag,” Felder said.

“We tried to get the flag down, but there was so many other things going on and we knew we didn’t have enough votes, so we couldn’t do it.”

In 2015, the Confederate Flag was permanently removed from the State House, the only flags permitted to fly atop the dome, complex and chambers being the United States Flag and the South Carolina State Flag — a move Black lawmakers strove toward for decades.

But it was their allies inside the State House, the late Sen. Isadore Lourie and Judge Alex Sanders, both instrumental in helping to get them elected in 1970 – who helped provide their supportive covering in the House of Representatives. Even their colleagues witnessing the small act of switching desk seats spoke volumes for the newly integrated Legislature and made a lasting impression on the newcomers.

It was the assumption that the two new African American Richland County lawmakers would sit together, former judge and College of Charleston President Alex Sanders told The State.

“At the time you chose your seatmate in the House of Representatives, Isadore and I talked to each other about it, we’ve sat with each other for years, but we decided that it would be a welcoming gesture,” Sanders said.

“It would make them feel like more part of the group if we gave up sitting with each other, and Isadore would sit with James Felder and I would sit with I.S. Leevy Johnson. Well, I.S. and I as a result of that occasion remained lifelong friends ‘til this very day. Our relationship as lawyers went on long after either one of us were in the State House.”

And their presence in the Legislature spoke volumes, becoming spokesmen for African Americans as well as a voice of leadership in South Carolina for all constituents despite their racial background, Sanders added.

And their legacy is mapped inside and outside the halls of the State House as well as in the communities they first started serving five decades ago.

The late Herbert U. Fielding — a World War II veteran who passed at the age of 92 in 2015 — went on to serve as a state senator and chairman of the South Carolina Legislative Black Caucus. He also operated one of the largest Black-owned funeral homes in the state.

Felder — the Howard University School of Law graduate — is an author and historian: sharing his life’s work of activism and military service through the four books he has authored.

And Johnson — who also made history as the South Carolina Bar’s first Black president — continues in his grandfather’s footsteps as the owner and operator of Leevy’s Funeral Home.

“When you are in the legislature, you are a state representative,” Johnson said.

“We recognized that although we were elected from Richland and Charleston county, that we were state legislators, and we had an obligation and commitment to people all over the state.”