Black Chamber of Commerce Destroyed by Fire and Black Figures Hanging at Winthrop College… #WATTBA

A brand new, multi-million dollar building has been destroyed in Beaufort County. The Black Chamber of Commerce, a place where people would have been able to go for the purpose of getting assistance with their businesses, was set to officially open January 2017. Unfortunately investigators are looking into a mysterious fire that destroyed this brand new facility.

This is not the first time since its construction that the building has caused issues within the small city of Beaufort, S.C. It has been the target of vandals in 2015. According to the Island Packet news site:

“Black Chamber president and CEO Larry Holman said someone had questioned the need for a separate chamber and its receipt of grants, in posts to a Beaufort-related Facebook group more than a week before the sign was vandalized.”

With a loss of over $2 million dollars, this is a setback for members of the community who need guidance on starting or managing their businesses. The investigation is not yet complete, but in the wake of the 2016 Election, with people all over the country reporting occurrences of vandalism and racists attacks, this fire is definitely timely and suspicious.

Meanwhile, over at Winthrop University’s Tillman Hall, black figures have been found hanging from trees. Officers found numerous black stockings hung from trees and buildings around campus. Imagine being a young black student, walking out of your dorm in the year 2016, and having to be subjected to this type of display!

They also found signs that read “Tillman’s Legacy” – if you didn’t know, Tillman Hall is named after a white supremacist who advocated lynchings of black people who tried to vote. He served as S.C’s governor and a U.S. Senator who was instrumental in the founding of both Winthrop and Clemson – both schools have buildings named after Tillman.

According to The Herald, investigators questioned students who were taking graduation regalia pictures in front of Tillman Hall. So far those students claim they didn’t see anyone and they “didn’t know if the stockings were already there when they arrived to take pictures.”

Man, What a Time to Be Alive.