“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” — MLK
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on April 4, 1968, only a few months after Samuel Ephesians Hammond, Jr.; Delano Herman Middleton; and Henry Ezekial Smith were killed by state officers during the February 8, 1968, civil rights demonstration on the campus of South Carolina State University (SCSU) in Orangeburg. Approximately 30 others were wounded in the group of students, including my father, the late Bobby Eaddy. My mother, Patsy Eaddy was also on campus at the time.
The bullet, shot into the back of his upper torso, stopped near his heart and could not safely be removed by doctors. He survived, yet carried the near-fatal projectile in his chest for the rest of his life.
We honor and celebrate those who fought for the rights and freedoms we now enjoy and vow to never forget the sacrifices they made to move our world forward.
We cannot bury or forget what happened in Orangeburg. The wave of hatred and oppression that swept through campus eventually ended the lives of Dr. King and Robert Kennedy within the year.
I’m bringing attention to the tragedy as SCSU and the greater community involved are still working to repair the damage that was done to the lives of those affected. Every year, SCSU holds a commemoration ceremony to recognize February 8th.
In 2019, the National Football League (NFL) Network produced and aired a 30-minute documentary, "Orangeburg: A Town. A Team. An American Tragedy." The segment featured SCSU football players' first-hand accounts of the Orangeburg Massacre. My father was a 17-year-old freshman on the team when he was wounded. He spoke in the documentary about Dr. King's inspirational leadership and efforts to end the illegal discrimination of the era.
My family has processed, coped with, and dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy for more than 50 years. Today, Orangeburg continues to provide important historical context as we address the human and civil rights matters of our modern society.
Our world is challenged with many geo-political complexities, so I will be with you to remember September 11. I will be with you on Memorial Day. I will be with you during the Women’s March. And I will be with you to make sure that the Holocaust is never forgotten. But I will raise my voice and remind the world that we cannot move past the high profile killing of African American men in the U.S. It will always be a part of the our history, and it will forever be stitched into the fabric of our society.
You are probably not aware that I joined Facebook and the Web 2.0 online transformation in 2008 while doing work as a consultant to the Federal government. I was responsible for launching and managing some of the first Federal government social media programs. Since then, I've been leading strategic communications for agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, which includes working to honor our fallen heroes and those who have made significant sacrifices and contributions to our country.
Through my work, I have grown to better understand how the arts and humanities and history are about preserving and advancing our culture. Education is about improving our knowledge of the world—especially universities, as they lead us in understanding the totality of the universe in which we exist: from business and science, to technology and healthcare. The value that our network of colleges and universities bring to our communities is incalculable.
Since its founding in 1890, SCSU has educated 30,000 students and has served as the primary state university for African Americans during the era of racial segregation in the U.S. The school has produced thousands of military officers and many other leaders across industries.
While joining each day in celebrating our accomplishments, prosperity, and our successes, we also have a profound responsibility to remember the three students who lost their lives in Orangeburg just months before Dr. King was assassinated. Approximately 30 others, including my late father, were wounded that night demonstrating for our human and civil rights. My mother, Patsy Eaddy, was also on campus.
As we honor the life and ideals of Dr. King, let us not forget or marginalize the many people who shared in his vision.
Editorial Footnotes:
Bobby Eaddy passed peacefully surrounded by family on October 15, 2022, at the age of 72. The following year, during the 55th Commemoration Ceremony of the tragedy, SCSU posthumously honored him with the Smith Hammond Middleton Social Justice Award. Bobby was also posthumously granted his Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education on December 16 during the 2022 Fall Commencement Convocation.
In 2025, during the 57th commemoration of the Orangeburg Massacre, the
International African American Museum in Charleston, recognized Bobby’s inspiring story in their South Carolina Collections gallery. The museum’s location at Gadsden’s Wharf memorializes where 40 percent of African slaves were forcibly brought into the U.S. throughout the 400 year-long transatlantic slave trade.
Government Oversight of the Orangeburg Massacre:In 2001, S.C. Governor Jim Hodges spoke on behalf of the state and expressed deep regret for the events of February 8, 1968. In 2003, S.C. Governor Mark Sanford issued an apology. In 2002 and 2007, state legislation was introduced to create a formal commission tasked with making victims’ compensation recommendations; however, the proposal was not signed into law and the commission was not convened.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation cited double jeopardy protections in 2007 when declining to reopen the case along with other unresolved civil rights matters.
The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018 was signed into U.S. Federal law, authorizing the establishment of a records review board. The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board is tasked with overseeing the release of records involving the killing of African Americans in the county from 1940 to 1979. The review board has been given the “power to declassify government files and subpoena new testimony in the hopes of reopening cases or revealing publicly why many were never fully investigated. The Orangeburg Massacre is among the cases included under this authority.
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Derran Eaddy, M.A., is an award-winning communications practitioner based in Washington, D.C. He is a former U.S. Senate Fellow and served as a State Commissioner in New Mexico. He is serving as a Smithsonian Ambassador at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Revised © 2025, Original © 2022
