THE ISSUE: Orangeburg annexation

OUR OPINION: Political, racial reality will be a factor in Orangeburg growth

Mayor Paul Miller’s push to expand the city of Orangeburg through annexation ran into an old stumbling block Tuesday night at Orangeburg City Council. Amid the controversy over whether a Columbia Road neighborhood should enter the city as a place for single-family dwellings only, Mayor Pro Tempore Bernard Haire raised a separate issue.

As council was preparing to vote, Haire paused the process to make known his non-support for the annexation proposal. We say “non-support” because Haire’s “no” vote, along with those of council’s other African-American members, was not based on real opposition to the particular area coming into the city. In fact, Haire has been a proponent of annexation.

BUT he is not in support of the present process. Since an annexation study, council has been publicly enthusiastic about annexation. After all, Orangeburg is a city with limits that encompass only about a quarter of the people residing in greater Orangeburg.

Haire called into question annexations over the past year and why none has involved eastern areas. These are historically neighborhoods with large populations of African-Americans.

Haire questioned the process being used by the city’s administrative professionals in pushing annexation. Without directly saying so, he made clear he is skeptical of their enthusiasm for bringing more African-Americans into Orangeburg.

It’s not a new issue.

Orangeburg has long been a city with questions about size. Why such a small city in the middle of a micropolitan area? The answer lies in the age-old politics of race. Annexation changes the racial makeup of the city and impacts political representation. One has only to remember the longtime controversy over establishing single-member council districts that produced African-American representation on council to know how serious the issue is.

Haire and others are not opposed to annexation. They demand, however, that annexation be vigorously pursued in a way that will at a minimum maintain the present racial balance of the city.

They know that annexation of all areas that constitute greater Orangeburg would in fact increase the African-American population and likely result in a change in the electoral dynamic that at present has Orangeburg with a council that is made up of three African-Americans and three whites elected from single-member districts, as well as a white mayor elected at-large.

It is an issue that was destined to be raised as Orangeburg pushes annexation more than at any time in recent history. Bringing it to the fore, however, should not put a halt to the push. Annexation is a priority for a locale that functions and provides services more like a “big city” than a small one.

The story is the same as it historically has been: Annexation will have to be accomplished with political reality and the politics of race being considered. That means maintaining the racial balance that exists today by targeting neighborhoods – black and white – and aggressively pursuing their inclusion on a systematic basis.

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