Lessons In Moving Forward On Race From A 40-Year Mayor
http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2015/03/24/395110085/lessons-on-moving-forward-on-race-from-a-40-year-mayor
It might not sound newsworthy that Charleston, S.C., is getting a new mayor next year. But the last time the city elected a new mayor was 40 years ago, in December 1975.
That mayor is Joe Riley. He has been re-elected nine times since, and now, at 72, has decided to retire. During his tenure, he has palpably changed the look and feel of Charleston and has been praised for taking a stand on racial issues. In 2000, he led a five-day march of hundreds to Columbia, S.C., to demand that the Confederate flag stop being flown above the state Capitol. Riley spoke recently to NPR's Robert Siegel about that march, urban design and how he feels about having the city's new baseball park named after him....
I sought this job ... mainly to help build a bridge between the African-American and the white community. Charleston's a deep Southern city, the Civil War was started here, the '60s and '70s time of change, and that was what brought me to this job.
So having the Confederate battle flag flying atop the state Capitol, it made no sense and it was an affront to many people in our state. And so I led the march, and it came down. And that was a very important experience for me, and I think it helped our state move forward.
