By Brenton Brown, Chief of Staff for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs
In the early to mid-1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal programs were his administration’s attempts to counteract the economic despair inflicted on the United States by the Great Depression. The cumulative effect of these programs not only helped to restore the country’s economy but also got Americans back to work and improved the country’s quality of life.
Two public policy events that were central actions of the administration – and not widely acknowledged today – were the establishment of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) in 1935 and the passage of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936. These actions did something crucially important to positively change the trajectory of life for most Americans: they bridged the divide between those with access to electricity and those without access to it. For example, it was estimated that in 1930, less than 10% of U.S. farms had access to electricity. However, within the next quarter century, approximately 90% of U.S. farms had electrical access.
The success of the REA brought electricity to the doorsteps of tens of millions of Americans, and consequently, most Americans living today are unable to fathom daily life without electric power and all its attendant benefits.
Contemporarily, there is another resource that is essential to our lives, of which millions of Americans still lack access: reliable, high-speed internet. Today, it is estimated that no less than 42 million Americans lack access to broadband. This is equivalent to the combined populations of the states of Florida and New York. South Carolina, with a population of 5.3 million people, has an estimated 450,000 lacking internet access. For our state to be successful, this divide must be – and is being – treated as a major public policy issue.
Lack of internet access is not simply about the ability to stream entertainment and shop online. Lack of access can preclude individuals from accessing career and educational opportunities and mental and physical health resources; and it makes community development and revitalization efforts Herculean. As such, ensuring access to reliable, high-speed internet is one of the most defining public policy measures of our time and one for which the State of South Carolina is working hard to obtain for all its citizens.
To remedy this inequity, the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs has assisted the South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO), which coordinates broadband planning with federal, state and local governments, and private organizations, the South Carolina Department of Administration and other stakeholders as part of a consortium seeking to utilize public funding to connect internet deficient areas of the state with high-speed internet. In reality, this means the utilization of approximately $400 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to expand internet access in the state, which will go to implement the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. To assist in this endeavor, the state developed a five-year action plan that includes:
- surveying residents, businesses and organizations, and local governments and municipalities;
- the creation of GetConnectedSC, a statewide marketing campaign;
- input from organizations representing broadband and digital equity-related nonprofits and governmental agencies;
- input from diverse internet service providers (ISPs) and other member organizations (e.g., rural / local telecommunications companies, electric cooperatives, large cable providers, etc.); and
- the facilitation of approximately two dozen in-person events across the state connecting with 1,500 attendees, including outreach to the state’s Native American communities.
GetConnectedSC, the statewide marketing campaign, was implemented to gain feedback from diverse individuals and households, including the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, rural residents, military veterans, individuals with disabilities, the incarcerated, and those for whom English is not their first language.
Understandably, this bipartisan effort to bring internet to the homes of every South Carolinian is a major undertaking, and one that requires not only funding, but also deliberation and buy-in from those with vested interests at the federal, state, local and individual levels. Moreover, the emphasis is not only on internet infrastructure but also on ensuring that people and communities have the skills and resources necessary to be a part of today’s digital economy.
South Carolina is a beautiful state with much to offer, yet still much to improve. To ensure our viability and vibrancy for posterity, it means we must be as one of our state mottos attests: prepared in mind and resources. The state possesses the intellectual capital and will to accomplish this task. The citizens of South Carolina can also be assured that the state is working to obtain and judiciously use public funds so that the needs of its people are being met. The ultimate goal is for the most under-resourced South Carolinians to enjoy the same economic benefits as its most well-resourced.
Brenton Brown serves as the chief of staff for the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs, which works to ensure the vision whereby all ethnic minority citizens of South Carolina will be treated equitably and achieve economic prosperity.
