Politics with a shave and a haircut in South Carolina
There's a certain ritual to getting a hair cut in Charleston. The barber fastens a smock around your neck as you nestle into the chair's worn-in naugahyde seat and describe your cut. Buzzing begins. Conversation ambles from restaurant specials over Valentine's Day, to fresh kicks, and inevitably, to politics.
"Oh, man every day that I am open we talk about politics," says Rev Drain, a 19-year veteran barber at The Distinguished Gentleman barbershop in downtown Charleston. African American men of all ages come in and out of the shop all day. Sporting a yellow and purple bowtie, Drain selects one of his 13 trimmers to begin Bradley Burkett's cut.
"I am on the fence. But I am leaning towards Hillary. Just because -- where is [Bernie Sanders] from? Vermont?" Burkett asks Drain as he sits for his monthly trim. As a College of Charleston student from Columbia, Burkett thinks being from Vermont is a problem for Sanders. "He has done a lot for many communities like many impoverished and minority communities. But I just don't know if he is surrounded by a diverse enough people who can understand everyone's perspective."
There's some hesitation lurking in Burkett's voice as he talks about Clinton, too, but for a different reason.
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"A lot of my friends are trying to convince me that she is a liar," says the 23-year-old as Drain buzzes the area where his head meets his neck. He doesn't agree. Plus, he says, lying is just "part of politics."
"I am not saying she is perfect, but none of them are," asserts Drain. He thinks Sanders is a little too old and "seasoned" to win this time. "If you looking for a perfect candidate you are going to be looking for a long time because there ain't one."
Burkett slowly nods his head.
"She is our only choice," Drain tells the 23-year-old, gesticulating with the comb in his right hand. He could go on.
"She knows what to look for, what to expect. I'll tell anyone who asks," Drain says. There is a small Clinton sign displayed in shop's window.
Six miles away, Donnie Anderson, the co-owner of Diamond Cutz, is a Sanders fan. Currently in the shadow of a bridge under construction, the shop's is entrance hard to find. But despite road blockades on a Saturday morning, the place is packed. The shop has been there for 12 years, and over 400 South Carolinians walk out each week with crisply trimmed hair.
The barbers are an important part of the community, providing odd-jobs for the African American youth and monthly book meetings to talk about social issues. Anderson, who has been working in barber shops since he was eight years old, found himself and his voice inside their walls. Yet his pro-Sanders viewpoint can be met with scorn.
"Oh you get a bad reaction," Anderson explains. "A lot of people are sworn by Hillary. I think because Hillary supported Obama, and Bill Clinton is beloved. But I look beyond that. What have you done?"
Anderson distinctly remembers one thing that happened under President Bill Clinton: the Charleston Naval base closed. His father, one of the first black firemen on that naval base, retired when he found out the base was shutting down. He reminds people in the shop of that reality. Now, at 43 years old, Anderson warns of the "trickery" of politics.
"They are mostly for Hillary," he says glancing over to the other side of the room where three barbers are buzzing away. They fall silent. The two men are for Clinton and the woman barber is undecided.
Then Anderson references Sanders's fight for racial equality, recalling a photo he had seen purporting to show Sanders in the 1963 March on Washington. That photo is circulating in other barbershops, too.
"Here it is," says 35-year-old Terrell Harrison, a contract police officer, sitting in a chair at AnJae's Hair Studio in North Charleston. He pulls the photo up on his phone from a Sanders supporter's Facebook page. (There is some dispute about whether the photo, a crowd shot, does in fact show Sanders. Sanders has not claimed he is in this photo)
"She is trying to be too hip about it," Harrison says of Clinton. "He is sticking straight to politics and his record and everything."
"What we need is to get rid of racism," says Marcus Ham, the barber hovering over Harrison's almost perfectly shaven head.
"Oh man, that ain't ever going to happen," says Harrison shaking his head.
The conversation shifts to police. They agree that diversifying police forces to "make them look like" the communities they serve, which Sanders advocates, is not what is needed.
Harrison believes there must be a shift in the character of policemen -- "all colors the same" -- to decrease the combative attitude he perceives. "Brothers down here -- they turn too quickly. It is the culture."
"Mm-hmm," says Ham as be buzzes, listening to his friend in the seat.
Still, Harrison looks at that civil rights photo, thinks of Sanders marching and feels connected to his message of bold change.
Ham doesn't think any of the candidates will come through the shop but memories of 2008 lurk in the room: a photo of Hillary and Bill Clinton hangs on the wall. Bill Clinton came by the shop in 2008 and "didn't forget anyone," remembers Angela Jackson, the owner of the shop. She has yet to be contacted at the shop by either campaign this cycle.
Back in the heart of downtown Charleston -- where there are fewer African Americans walking the streets than there are in North Charleston -- someone new hops in the chair. Drain keeps touting Clinton.
"I am not going to downgrade Hillary at all," says Darren Brown as Drain buzzes his grey speckled dark head. But even though he cannot remember Sanders' full name, he thinks he likes the Vermonter better. Clinton's emails cloud his judgment of her. "You don't want that in the mix of everything when you are running for the president. Scandalous this, scandalous that," Brown adds.
Drain calls that "dirty politics" as dusts the loose hairs off of Brown's neck with a brush. He drops the subject. But a few minutes later he just can't help himself. He questions Brown further.
"Darren, really, you are going away from the Clintons?" Drain says softly.
"It is going to be close," Brown says though he is not sure he will vote in the primary. But the barbers and their customers have a couple of days to decide -- they vote on Saturday -- and then they can ruminate on general election prospects by the time they're ready for their next haircut.