Black Beaufort Co. official criticizes Beaufort mayor’s ‘tone deaf’ protest comments
Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling’s comments in the wake of ongoing public protests in the city over police brutality and racism were “dismissive and condescending” to members of the black community, a Beaufort County elected official said in a letter to the mayor last week.
In a letter Friday emailed to Keyserling and a newspaper reporter — and also posted publicly on Facebook — Beaufort County school board member William Smith objected to comments in Keyserling’ regular email newsletter about protests at Ribaut Road and Boundary Street. The protests have been ongoing since May 30 following the death of George Floyd, who died after a Minnesota police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed.
Smith’s letter, which he said came from discussions with other black community members, said Keyserling painted too rosy a picture of the city as a “utopia” free from the racial issues seen in other areas, which are experiencing widespread protests and reconsidering policing policies. The letter listed specific areas of city and county bureaucracy that should be examined for racial diversity and asked that law enforcement policies be scrutinized.
Keyserling’s comments in his newsletter didn’t mention police brutality or racism and “amount to nothing more than propaganda,” wrote Smith, who is black.
“Nowhere in your comments do you advance the conversation about race and equality in America and in our hometown of Beaufort,” the letter said. “To the contrary, your comments paint Beaufort as a ‘Utopia’ of sorts free from racism, discrimination and bigotry. This could not be further from the truth. Racism exists everywhere and it exists here as well.”
Keyserling, who is white, said Monday he wouldn’t respond to Smith’s specific complaints. He said Smith should have called him to talk or meet in person before airing the letter publicly. In an emailed response to Smith on Saturday morning, the mayor said he was disappointed in the letter and “happy to talk any time any place as leaders would normally do.”
“My response was not to answer every allegation in the news media but to have a conversation, as I believe elected officials should have,” Keyserling said Monday.
“I made a public response to his public newsletter,” Smith said Monday. “It’s not a personal matter between me and the mayor. These issues are being discussed internationally, nationally...the problem is we are not having these discussions locally.”
Smith said he would reach out to Keyserling to meet and would consult with other African American leaders in the community to plan next steps.
Among the concerns listed in Smith’s letter:
- The racial makeup, hiring and promotional practices of police forces in Beaufort, Bluffton, Port Royal and Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
- The need for more black prosecutors, fire department commanders, judges, victim advocates and court and municipal staff.
- The lack of a black representative on Beaufort City Council for more than 25 years. The city’s at-large voting keeps African Americans from winning seats in an election. The mayor and two council seats are open in November.
Peaceful protesters have gathered since May 30 at the busy intersection across from City Hall and nearby county courts, administrative offices and the Sheriff’s Office. Organizers have called for justice for Floyd and accountability in the death of Trey Pringle, a 24-year-old Seabrook man who died in 2018 after an altercation with county deputies and other first responders.
In a newsletter June 1, Keyserling wrote that he met with organizers “who were polite and positive assuring me their mission was only to ‘build up and not tear down their hometown.’” In another newsletter June 3, Keyserling said protesters he met with had “agreed we would work together to avoid potential outside agitators with each pledging to stay in touch should we hear of anything coming our way. We have also agreed that violence, bad mouthing our outstanding law enforcement officers or even the threat of discord are not tolerable since we want unity and not division to make our community stronger.”
In the letter to Keyserling, Smith said the mayor’s words of finding the protesters orderly and reassuring created the impression they could gather only with the blessing of city officials and police, and that the use of “outside agitators” echoed language of racist whites during the civil rights movement.
“Your comments are tone deaf,” Smith’s letter said. “They are dismissive and condescending to African Americans.”
Keyserling said Monday the Beaufort Police Department has been a model of community policing and that he met at City Hall on Sunday evening with protest organizers to address questions and identify proper agencies and elected bodies to direct grievances.
