Reception Overwhelms Chester County, SC’s First Black Sheriff

From The Rock Hill Herald By Jonathan McFadden, November, 10, 2012

Alex Underwood guesses his cell phone has beeped with calls and text messages at least every two seconds.

When he walks down the street, drivers honk their horns. When he walks into restaurants, he receives standing ovations.

The day after Underwood, a petition candidate and retired agent with the State Law Enforcement Divison, was declared Chester County’s first black sheriff, he autographed a father’s campaign sign. The father, with his small son at his side, told Underwood, “This is history.”

Alex Underwood

Underwood, the latest in a long-line of political black pioneers in Chester, admitted: “I hadn’t even thought about it.”

On Tuesday, Underwood captured more than 45 percent of votes,  beating  Democratic incumbent Sheriff Richard Smith and fellow petition candidate Robert Cauthen, a former Sheriff’s Office chief deputy.

The atmosphere in Chester following his  victory  has been “electrifying,” Underwood  said.

“I’m speechless,” he said. “I’m humbled. It’s an amazing accomplishment. It’s just unbelievable.”

Something else Underwood found “unbelievable” was meeting then-state Sen. Strom Thurmond when Underwood  was a preteen. Underwood’s father, Arthur Underwood Sr., started the county’s housing authority alongside Thurmond.

When Thurmond went to Chester for a visit – traveling in a limousine – he took the Underwoods on ride through town. That’s when Thurmond spoke words to Alex Underwood that still resonate today.

“Son, if you grow up to be half the man your daddy is, you’ll be a helluva man.”

All these years later, Chester’s first black sheriff has plans to live up to that counsel by helping as many people as he can, “skin complexion” aside.

Underwood began his public service as a volunteer fireman. In 1984, he joined the Chester County Sheriff’s Office, starting as a patrol deputy and working up the ranks. He became  a game warden for the Department of Natural Resources before joining SLED. He retired in 2010.

Underwood trained as a hostage negotiator with the SWAT team and fugitive hunter with the U.S. Marshal’s Task Force. He wants to require that deputies regularly exercise. He wants to use contacts he has made through the years to bolster deputies’ skill training and create partnerships with state agencies. He wants to affect  the community’s youth by offering weeklong crash courses in state law enforcement agencies, ranging from SLED to the wildlife department.

The sheriff’s  salary is $57,130.

Underwood’s qualifications alone were enough to convince 71-year-old William Mills to vote for him, and put his campaign  signs  his yard.

“I don’t care what color you are; as long as you treat the people right,” said Mills, a black resident in the city’s  East Chester community.

“I think he’s going to try and clean up this place,” Mills said referring to Chester’s problems with drugs. “There’s a lot of work to be done.”

When Madeline Miles was growing up in Chester the thought of a black sheriff didn’t “register in my mind,” she said.

Now, at 75, Miles said, “I’m just grateful. God has brought us through a lot of things.”

A lifetime Chester resident, Miles said she hopes Underwood can help city authorities quell violence and positively affect “the young people.”

Miles said she remembers the efforts of Chris King and all he did to “bring the city to another level.”

King’s son, Rep. John King, D-Rock Hill, says the same.

“My father…set the stage not only for his family but for all minorities in Chester.” He wanted people to know “they can aspire to be anything they want to be,” he said.

John King was 19 when his father became the mayor. He remembers his father experiencing opposition in a town historically known for segregation.

He and his siblings “may have heard racial slurs from teachers” and read editorials in the newspaper, but their parents never became discouraged.

“The goal was showing that African Americans can be elected in Chester and be effective leaders when they are elected,” John King said. “We didn’t see color” or “skin tones,” he said, adding that his father felt “black people were underserved in public office” in Chester.

Chris King’s philosophy, his son said: “If blacks are going to be a part of the community, we need to have a seat at the table.”

Chris King, who also ran for school board and state Senate, waged a battle to the U.S. Supreme Court that fought for single-member districts in the county.

He fought and won, his son said.

His victory paved the way for districts that allowed people, such as  the late George Benjamin Guy Sr., to occupy seats on county council. His wife, Mary Guy, now fills the seat Guy left vacant in District 5.

Underwood’s victory “speaks volumes for Chester County,” said Mary Guy, currently the only black member of county council. “Years ago, a black person could not win a countywide election. This is really different for Chester.”

It also speaks volumes for voters, who Mary Guy said, “don’t…vote just on racial boundaries anymore, because I’m sure he got a lot of white support, as well.”

Born and raised in Chester, Mary Guy attended segregated schools. The county then wasn’t unitied.  Now, “Chester’s unified,” she said.

In 1992, Calvin Gore  ran for sheriff and lost. It was the first time, he said, that he saw how “racist” people could be in his hometown.

“I am so happy for Alex,” Gore said. “I’m sure he will be fair to everyone…not the good buddy system.”

That system rubbed Gore the wrong way just four months ago when he said two sheriff’s deputies were very disrespectful and unprofessional in their dealings with him.

“They realy don’t know how to talk to anyone,” Gore said, adding that he went to Richard Smith about his complaints but they didn’t seem to make a difference.

“I think he’ll listen to people. I think he’ll try to run a good operation,” said Carlisle Roddey, Chester’s county supervisor and a friend of Underwood’s family since the new sheriff was a child. “He got a lot of the votes.”

Blacks in Chester weren’t the only ones to support  Underwood, Roddey said, adding that the candidate won over several white voters.

“It wasn’t overwhelming,” Roddey said, “but it was enough to carry him through. You had two white candidates running; he was able to muster the biggest majority of the African American vote and get part of the white vote, and that’s what put him in there.”

“I think he will run…it in an unbiased way,” showing no slack for black or white criminals, Roddey said. “If they break the law, (Underwood’s) going to put them in jail.”