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by JOE WHITE
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If you’d asked me a year ago whether I thought someone could be killed in America just for speaking their beliefs, I probably would’ve said no. I would’ve said, “That kind of thing doesn’t happen here.”
I was wrong.
When Charlie Kirk was assassinated on September 10, 2025, in Utah Valley, Utah, it shook me in a way I didn’t expect. I’ve spent most of my life believing in this country and thinking about the men who founded it. They didn’t just talk about freedom. They were willing to give up everything for it — their money, their safety, even their lives.
That night, when I realized Charlie Kirk had been killed for speaking his beliefs, I couldn’t get one thought out of my head: would I be willing to be that bold?
I’ve been a state legislator for three years now. I’ve spoken up. I’ve voted against leadership. I’ve caused my share of heartburn in Columbia.
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But that night, looking back on my own words and actions, I had to admit something that wasn’t easy.
I haven’t been bold enough. I haven’t been bold enough in my faith. I haven’t been bold enough about corruption in our state government. And I haven’t been bold enough about who really runs South Carolina.
We have more than five million people in this state. And yet everybody knows decisions don’t get made by those five million people. They get made by a very small group. A few hundred people, at most. Big money donors. Powerful lawyers. People who help write the laws, pick the judges, and then make a living off the system they created.
That’s not a theory. That’s just how it works! And too many elected officials — myself included — have been careful about how we talk about it.
We choose our words. We avoid saying too much. We tell ourselves we’re being civil.
Charlie Kirk’s death made me realize something simple. Silence isn’t wisdom. Silence is fear. That realization took me back to where I came from.
My dad was a carpenter. He worked hard every single day. He didn’t have power. He didn’t have connections. He didn’t have money. But he worked so his family could have food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads.
People like him are the real strength of this state. Truck drivers. Electricians. Plumbers. Carpenters. Small business owners.
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RELATED | SOUTH CAROLINA’S LEADERSHIP CRISIS
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They aren’t special interests. They aren’t obstacles. They are the people this government is supposed to serve. They are the government. I’m done pretending that people with money deserve more of a voice than people who work for a living. I’m done pretending that silence keeps the peace. All it does is protect the powerful.
South Carolina’s motto is Dum Spiro Spero — While I breathe, I hope. Here’s what that means to me now. While I breathe, I will hope. And while I breathe, I will speak.
I’m one of just 124 members of the South Carolina House. I see how things work from the inside, and from here on out, I’m going to say what I see — plainly, honestly, and without apology. Not because it’s safe. Not because it’s comfortable, but because the people who built this country were willing to risk everything.
The least I can do is tell the truth while I still have breath in my lungs.
If South Carolina is ever going to be run by its people instead of the powerful, then those of us who have a voice must start using it.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Joe White is a retired businessman and proud member of the S.C. Freedom Caucus who represents South Carolina House District 40 in the General Assembly.
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6 comments
The voters of this state have elected a Republican majority in their state House of Representatives since 1994, and a Republican majority in the state Senate
since 2000. They have held the governor’s office 29 of the last 33 years. All of the state constitutional offices have been in Republican hands the entire 21st century except for one term of the Supt.of Education. Instead of railing about a few powerful rich people and lawyers running the state, ask yourself this: Who do you think is enabling these people who are holding the state back and enriching themselves at the expense of the working people? Certainly not the Democratic Party. You and your fellow Freedom Caucus colleagues who run under the Republican banner year after year need to admit to yourselves: “We have met the enemy and he is us!”
Why not bail on the failed group of “never weres” known as the Freedom Caucus and step out on your own then? no sychophantic support of policy because it’s “conservative”. Support the policy because it makes sense. Speak truth even when it makes “your side” look bad. do what’s right because (gasp, clutching my pearls) it’s right.
People still want to play the party games. One side or the other, rather than realizing an outsider is holding office spitting out the truth on the corruption under the dome. Everybody thinks their guy is great and not a problem. Ask yourselves what has the SC legislature done for the actual citizens in this state? They are good at handing out corporate welfare, selecting judges to be manipulated by lawyer/legislators, getting money for their special pet projects,aka earmarks. Citizens? yep we are second place.
Is Joe also one of the Freedom Caucus members who refused to testify under other about RJ MAY?
Wish we had more Joe Whites in Columbia.
Referencing Charlie Kirk like he was some hero tells us quite a bit about you. I am sorry he died (because unlike most of the assholes on this site I don’t believe in the death penalty) but he was a jackass and so are you if you idolize a guy like that.