The Strom Thurmond Federal building and United States Courthouse in Columbia, SC is named for longtime racist Senator Strom Thurmond, who ran for president in 1948 as the Dixiecrat candidate on a platform of racial segregation. In 1957, Thurmond conducted the longest filibuster ever by a lone senator in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, and he went on to oppose the civil rights legislation of 1964 and 1965 – insisting that segregation was the “southern way” and that Black citizens should be denied their constitutional rights, including the right to vote.

“I wanna tell you, ladies and gentleman, that there’s not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the Nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches.” – Strom Thurmond, during his 1948 presidential campaign

Our federal courthouse should be a monument to justice and freedom, not to the legacy of a racist man who made every effort to deny Black citizens their fundamental rights under the Constitution of the United States.

We the people of South Carolina demand that the Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Columbia, SC be renamed.