COLOMBIA – The annual King Day at the Dome, a demonstration that attracts thousands of people to the steps of SC’s state house, is becoming virtual this year amid a new wave of COVID-19 cases hitting the state.
The rally will not be held live for the first time since it started in 2000. This original meeting was a reaction to the Confederate flag flying at the top of the capitol dome. The demonstrations continued when the flag was moved near a monument on the Statehouse grounds as part of a deal that removed the Civil War flag from the dome.
The event, sponsored by the NAACP chapter in South Carolina, helped propel a boycott of 15-year-old tourism to the state, which was honored by the NCAA and other groups until the flag was completely removed from the site. King Day also became a political magnet for Democratic presidential candidates ahead of South Carolina’s primary election. Eight candidates, including now-elected President Joe Biden, attended the rally last year.
But with COVID-19 cases reaching record highs in South Carolina, organizers planned a virtual King Day day at the Dome on January 18, Brenda Murphy, president of SC NAACP, told the Post and Courier.
“We cannot afford to have large crowds together now,” she said. “We had to adapt.”
The speakers will be announced soon, but the event’s theme will be “Where are we going from here?” it will start at 10 am on MLK day, said Murphy. The event will focus on education, health, economic sustainability, political engagement and criminal justice.
The demonstration is the first since George Floyd’s death while in the custody of the Minneapolis police and has sparked protests and debates across the country about the treatment of blacks by officials.
“We have challenges,” said Murphy. “And you need to be healthy to get the job done.”
