NAACP REQUESTS INJUNCTION AGAINST MYRTLE BEACH

Civil rights organization says there is no justification for traffic pattern used only when majority of tourists are African American. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) today asked a U.S. District Court in South Carolina to stop the City of Myrtle Beach from using a restrictive one-way traffic pattern along a major City boulevard over Memorial Day weekend. This is the only weekend each year when the majority of tourists in the City are African American and the only weekend each year when the City implements a restrictive traffic plan requiring all traffic to travel one-way for 60 blocks. Each year, in May, two large motorcycle rallies are held in the Myrtle Beach area. In mid-May, thousands of predominately white motorcyclists and tourists come to Myrtle Beach for an event known as “Harley Week.” A week later, over Memorial Day weekend, a similar number of black tourists attend a similar motorcycle rally in the Myrtle Beach area, known as “Black Bike Week.” The treatment of the tourists for each event is starkly different. The white Harley Week tourists are wholeheartedly welcomed by the Myrtle Beach government, businesses, and community leaders. When the black tourists arrive, restaurants close, hotels implement special policies, and the City restricts travel along the main drag of Myrtle Beach—Ocean Boule-vard, which is converted into an oppressive one-way traffic pattern that restricts traffic with limited exit points. The City’s police department also deploys triple the number of police officers to enforce a one-time “zero tolerance” policy aimed at black tourists. [more]