Grace Cowan: Hi, it's Grace Cowan, and this is Frogmore Stew.
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If you're from South Carolina, you know that Frogmore Stew is a blend of unique ingredients that all work together to produce something really delicious. That's how I believe politics should work. Different ingredients all working together for a delectable outcome.
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Throughout this season of Frogmore Stew, we'll dive deep into the state politics of the past and the state politics of the present. What common ground looks like. How our community, our upbringing, and generational impacts affect how we identify ourselves. We'll tackle an understanding of state issues, and we'll also dive into how and why national politics has made its way into everything we do. Plus we'll have interviews with some really fascinating people who have insightful perspective on the issues that affect us all here in the Palmetto State.
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Beth Bernstein: We're only one of two states in the nation that does not have some form of hate crime bill on its books.
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Michelle Shain: Seniors on fixed income, veterans, teachers, firemen and police, their salaries do not permit them to afford the rates in apartments that are here.
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Grace Cowan: So out of the top 50 cities ranking for evictions in the country, number one is North Charleston, South Carolina. Number eight is Columbia, and Charleston is number 32.
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Stacey Denaux: So it'd be easier for me to accept that someone is homeless because they have a mental illness or because they're addicted to drugs. The two primary contributors to homelessness are lack of affordable housing and low wages.
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Grace Cowan: We are the only state in the entire country with an all male Supreme Court, even though women are the majority of the state.
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Beth Bernstein: Exactly. And we have more. Women than men who are graduating from law schools, but we don't have that female representation on the judiciary like we should.
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Grace Cowan: So what are our duties as citizens? If you Google it, these five things come up. Respect the rights, beliefs and the opinions of others. To stay informed of the issues that affect your community. To serve on a jury. To participate in the democratic process, and to defend the country if the need should arise.
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And what are the duties of our state politicians? I guess that varies on who you ask. But to break it down to a micro level of what a politician's job is, is to understand what the American Dream means to each of us. That phrase comes up really often, and we hear it in a variety of different contexts, and politicians of all parties love to float that term.
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George W. Bush: I do believe in the American Dream. Owning a home is a part of that dream.
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Ronald Reagan: It is bold men and women yearning for freedom and opportunity who leave their homelands. They believe in the American Dream.
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Hillary Clinton: The American Dream is big enough for everyone.
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Richard Nixon: We can fulfill the American Dream only when each person has a fair chance to fulfill his own dreams.
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Bill Clinton: For too many families, even when both parents were working, The American Dream has been slipping away.
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Ted Cruz: The American people are rising up to take our country back, to restore the American Dream.
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Kamala Harris: And I am running to make sure that that dream, the American Dream, American values, American ideals, will always hold true.
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Donald Trump: I'm the only thing standing between the American Dream and total anarchy, madness, and chaos. The American Dream. Is dead.
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Grace Cowan: What is your understanding of that dream? That question is key to ask ourselves as we start this season of Frogmore stew, because that is what will guide us to understanding what it looks like to have a state government that actually represents everyone. If you ask people today, what the American dream means, many will relay some version of upward social mobility.
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Random: -My American dream is that every family can have the same opportunities. as the most privileged family in America and that we can all make the best of this country.
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-To be able to do what I want to do with my life, where I want to do it, and surrounded by the people that I love the most.
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-It's really to give back to my community, my parents, and everyone who's around me that's helped me throughout my life.
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-In which every person in the United States had healthcare, could earn a living and support themselves and have a home.
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- I love this idea of the pursuit of happiness. That, to me, is very important and just to have access to the same things that my fellow Americans have.
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-So my American dream actually is to become a citizen of the United States. I'm actually currently a DACA recipient.
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-My American dream is to make my parents proud.
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-I would say that's probably individualistic. So each person has their own... feeling of what it is. I would say, you know, it's just your own level of success, whether it's you want to reach a certain level of education or you want to own a home or you don't want to own a home.
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-Maybe it's you want to travel a certain amount.
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- For me, it would be owning a home and and having a family and having a successful career.
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-My American dream is to be rich where my kids don't have to worry about suffering, struggling, none of that stuff.
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-I don't think there is an American dream anymore. I think it's pretty much if you're eating, you're in good shape.
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-Yeah. Like I said, the material things are pretty much gone. That used to be the house and the cars and all that stuff. But, for me, this stage, that's the American dream, is just to, you know, be able to put my, you know, the kids in college. And you know, provide some stability.
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-Financial stability and having a family of your own, owning your house, and yeah, happy life.
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-No, I mean, it's being able to make choices on what you're going to do with your life. Sounds corny, but that's what it means.
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Grace Cowan: The great American success story, the rags to riches, self sufficiency land of opportunity.
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But the American dream wasn't meant to mean just financial success. The man credited with coining the phrase in 1931, John Trueslow Adams said that the American dream is a dream in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable. and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of their birth or position.
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So that's a lot of 1931 words, meaning that we each have a skill or talent that makes us unique in our ability to contribute to the greater society. And that is collectively our job to create an ecosystem that allows each person to discover what their talent is. So that talent will contribute to make society better and that makes it better for everyone.
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So John Truslow Adams believed we are all starting with the same understanding of the value of education. Of a shared knowledge and curiosity and of historical inquiry to guide us for the future and a commitment to the good of the whole. That should be the primary platform of every politician, right?
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But in the quest to win elections, the far right groups and organizations that dominate the narrative of our state have blurred what our shared value of education is. They've turned a craving for knowledge and curiosity into terms like radicalization and indoctrination. They're changing historical truths while we watch.
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They're removing freedoms and autonomy from the women of our state and putting us into national politics in a way that does not serve the people of South Carolina. We all need to pay close attention and know what we're supporting when we go to the voting booth. It's not just the general election now that you need to be involved and make sure that your voting is probably more important right now for the primary election. Right? Because in the primary, the most active, vocal. Minority group are the ones that are voting, and that is what we'll do on this season of Frogmore Stew.
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I'll leave you with a quote from Max Beerbohm. We must stop talking about the American dream and Start listening to the Dreams of Americans. Talk to you next Wednesday.
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TJ: South Carolina Frogmore Stew with Grace Cowen is a production of the Podcast Solutions Network, written by Grace Cowen. Produced and directed by TJ Phillips.
