Celebrating Spartanburg's Historically Black Communities
Like cities across the United States, the City of Spartanburg failed from its inception to recognize and safeguard the rights of its Black citizens, denying their communities the investments made in white areas and denying Black individuals and families the tools to build generational wealth.
Despite that systemic oppression and racism, Black people in Spartanburg persevered for decades and built strong, proud communities connected by institutions like churches, schools, and small businesses and shepherded by a long list of community leaders. The story of those leaders and the communities they built has never been fully told and their lives and work have never been fully commemorated.
The Southside Cultural Monument will tell that story.