My newest interview with Reps Jenny Horne and Joseph Neal on the Confederate Flag
Listen Here The state of South Carolina has taken a positive step towards combating discrimination as state representatives came together to remove the Confederate flag from the State House lawn. But other potentially discriminatory practices, such as voter ID laws and South Carolina’s constitutional prohibition on non-theists holding public office, remain intact. Matthew LaClair speaks with two members of the house of representatives, white Republican Jenny Horne and black Democrat Joseph Neal, who came together on the issue of the Confederate flag, while disagreeing vehemently on issues such as the voter ID laws.
Be sure to join us for our post-show discussion with Professor Orville Vernon Burton, who delivered expert testimony on behalf of the Department of Justice on the issue of South Carolina’s voter ID bill.
Jenny Horne
Republican - South Carolina House of Representatives
Jenny Horne is serving her fourth term in the South Carolina House of Representatives for House District 94 in Dorchester and Charleston Counties. She serves on the Judiciary Committee where she chairs the Special Laws Subcommittee. In 2013, Rep. Horne was elected by her peers to serve on the House Ethics Committee.
Representative Horne is the managing partner of the Jenny Horne Law Firm, LLC in Summerville where she practices in the areas of real estate, family law, employment law, and general litigation. She is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College and a 1997 graduate of the USC School of Law. After graduation, she clerked for federal trial Judge Margaret Beane Seymour. She and her husband Marc live in Summerville with their two children and their spoiled Maltese Baxter.
You may recognize Rep. Horne from the passionate speech she delivered on the floor of the house on the Confederate flag issue. Matthew asks her about this speech, her views on the Confederate flag both before and after the shooting in Charleston, SC, her justification for passing a voter ID law that was proposed just a few weeks after the first black president was sworn into office, and her views on the South Carolina constitution.
Rev. Joseph Neal
Democrat - South Carolina House of Representatives
Joseph Neal is a Democratic member of the South Carolina house of representatives. Rev. Neal was chairman of the South Carolina Black Legislative Caucus back in 2000, when citizens gathered before the State House demanding that the Confederate flag be removed from the State House dome. The decision to remove it from the dome to a flag pole out front was challenged by Neal and the Black legislative caucus, where it remained until last month. Matthew discusses this experience with Rev. Neal, and asks him about the walkout staged by the 2009 Legislative Black Caucus in opposition to the voter ID bill.
Rev. Neal is Minister and Vice President of New Horizons Systems and Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. He is the founder of Area Communities in Economic Development and Rural Sumter Communities for Economic Development, two non-profit community development organizations and co-founder of the South Carolina Environmental Watch Network. His numerous affiliations include membership in the NAACP, Moving Forward Community Group, Lower Richland Water Authority, Lower Richland Community Council and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He serves as Chairman of the Citizens for Hopkins Neighborhood Associations; co-chair of the South Carolina Progressive Network, a statewide grass roots organization; and as a board member of the Carolina Peace Resource Center.
documentary on the case and expressed his views, saying “you don’t want god ‘imposed’ on to you but you expect that you can impose science on to others? I don’t think so…”