Student League for Black Identity 1969 Walk-Out
The tour addresses significant events in the timeline leading up to the 1969 Student League for Black Identity walk-out where 60 African American students left the campus of Clemson University out of fear of white retaliation.
Locations for Tour
The Country Gentleman, "Dixie," and the Confederate Flag
Before at least 1930, the use of several controversial figures and traditions could be seen at Clemson football games, both home and away. These included the tradition of Tiger Band playing Dixie, the mascot known as “The Country Gentleman”, and the…
The Johnstone Bombing and Racial Tensions
In the Fall of 1968, racial tensions ran high throughout the state of South Carolina. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King had been assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee in early April, and the campus at SC State in Orangeburg had just experienced an outbreak of…
Student Senate Stumped on Flag Issue
In response to the Student League for Black Identity’s efforts to have the Confederate flag and the playing of “Dixie” removed from Clemson athletics, a petition boasting over three-thousand student signatures made it to the floor of the student…
Clemson Coverage and Student Opinions
During the events of 1969’s SLBI walk-out, The Tiger, Clemson’s student-run newspaper since 1907 covered that and many connected events on and around campus. While The Tiger was criticized by local news sources as being liberally biased and…
Resistance to SLBI and Counter-Movements at Clemson
In response to the efforts of the Student League for Black Identity (SLBI) to remove the Confederate flag and the playing of “Dixie” at Clemson University athletic events, a large movement to retain these symbols as what they saw to be an essential…
1969 Student League for Black Identity Walk-Out
The experience for Black students at Clemson can be best summarized as one of resistance. During these times, white students and African Americans fought with both fist and movements. In 1968 the Student League for Black Identity was…
Joseph Grant to President Robert C. Edwards
In 1969, Joseph Grant led the Student League for Black Identity as President. In a detailed Letter to President R. C. Edwards, he explains how “the majority of white students are restrained from abusing black students only by the…
Outside Media Response
On October 27th, 1969 at 10 A.M., Student League for Black Identity (SLBI) President Joseph Grant released to the news media the same letter which he had directed to President Robert C. Edwards regarding the campus walk-out. According to SLBI…
Letters to President Robert C. Edwards
In response to the ongoing protests from Tigerama to the Confederate symbols at football games, Clemson President Robert C. Edwards began receiving letters from all across the South. Most letters, arriving to the university from October 27th to…
Success After Struggle
While the academic year of 1969 had proven to be one that featured many challenges for the African American community at Clemson, it was not without its share of successes for the community as well. The graduating class of 1969 held numerous…