by Logan G. Wells
In the safety of my 2018 Volkswagen beetle, I start my drive home. Leaving the gates of my private school – which could easily pass as a college campus – the secluded road and greenery quickly turn into a much different scene. While confined within my school’s well-heeled society for eight hours a day, it’s easy to forget about the condition of our state. Upon seeing the sloping houses with yards decorated with broken down cars on my drive home, however, I am reminded of the reality many South Carolinians face: around 42 percent of our community members classify as either impoverished or “asset limited and income constrained while employed.”1
Not much farther along on my drive, I see a billboard with a woman’s torso in “barely-there” clothing with the words Platinum West plastered across the top of the sign. Similar to the message evoked by this image, I can’t help but think of the state lawmakers who are stripping away women’s bodily autonomy with the advancement of bills that leave those affected feeling forgotten. At the beginning of 2023, there seemed to be a slight compromise within the words of the Fetal Heartbeat Bill, but the recent introduction of a South Carolina Senate Bill that completely criminalizes abortion – with no exceptions for rape or incest – doesn’t sound like much of a compromise to me.
While South Carolina’s wealth gap and the unyielding abortion standards proposed in S.323 are their own problems, they both stem from the same poisoned roots: South Carolinians lack connection.
We are like puzzle pieces that have forgotten the point of a puzzle is to come together. We are like pages of an old book that has been unbound for so long they no longer remember how to form a coherent story.
These lines that divide us are everywhere. I see them in the separate worlds of my school and the surrounding communities. I see them in the actions of lawmakers in our state that hurt more than they help. I see them in the strict political party lines that distinguish friends from foes. I see them in the way people turn from arising issues just because they aren’t personally affected. I even see them in the sometimes careless use of words to categorize what is uncommon or misunderstood.
Recognizing our ability to bridge these gaps is the first step towards strengthening our community and erasing the lines that divide. Ignorance is often a choice, and while some make this choice, I can see the conscious effort others put forth to better understand each other. I see this in my church community, in people voicing their concerns to local representatives, in those volunteering with a local service organization, and more. I even see it in a silent “Rosie the Riveter” bumper sticker on the car in front of me on my drive home, because becoming the engaged individuals our state needs doesn’t require the big action of one, but rather the small contributions of many. In a world that often glorifies the actions of one, “we” will always hold more power than “me” because we are truly stronger together.
1 - https://www.unitedforalice.org/introducing-ALICE/south-carolina
About Logan G. Wells
Logan Wells is a junior at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, where she competes in cross-country and track and field. The daughter of Christine and Tigerron Wells, Logan has represented the City of Columbia as Miss Columbia’s Teen and is competing for Miss South Carolina’s Teen as Miss Palmetto Teen. Logan is a member of her school’s National Honor Society and founder of Fresh Friends, a non-profit community service organization for teens. She wants to be a neurosurgeon.