Summary

In Chapter 7, Bakari recalls giving up his seat in South Carolina House of Representatives in 2014. Bakari did this because he wanted to run for the position of lieutenant governor. In part, Bakari was motivated by the fact that “The last time an African American was elected to a statewide political office in South Carolina was back in 1876” (127). Bakari was 29 years old at the time, and his opponent was a seasoned Republican politician named Henry McMaster. Bakari planned to run on a campaign of addressing underfunded schools, hospitals, and other institutions in rural South Carolina. However, Congressman Jim Clyburn (for whom Bakari had interned when Bakari was a college student) warned Bakari that it would be nearly impossible for a Democrat to win a statewide elected position in South Carolina. Bakari, his campaign manager, and their political consultants set to work raising funds and organizing...