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Rising up a real high, too. Yeah. Do you ride around like this ever or No. Do I? King Cotton, white gold, whatever you call it. At one point, it made this one of the wealthiest places on Earth. From New York to London, the world's factories needed South Carolina cotton. Today, it's a much different story. Yeah, I bet y'all say, "Damn, you in business don't nothing shit." This ghetto down here go. What became of the cotton fields and towns that once powered the American South? We wanted to find out. So, we set off on a 40-mile journey through the South Carolina country. There's really nothing here. Most people that was here,
they staying all over the country, you know. On the way, we encountered semi- ghost towns, southern hospitality, and an unusual mix of both beauty and tragedy. I love the Midwest, but South is my home, and this is what I enjoy. I can promise you about nine out of 10 people out here probably packing pills. We ain't got no job, no name. Hey, I don't want to take the food down. If you want to know what became of this part of rural Dixie, come with us to the cotton towns.
Our journey would end with one of the most disturbing and eye-opening conversations we've ever had. I got shot over 10 times and ran over. That's all I lost my leg. Got ran over. You lost both your two legs. Yeah. But it started in Chra, where the wealth of the cotton boom is on full display. Known as the prettiest town in Dixie, it's said here that when General Sherman marched through the south, burning all he could on his way to the coast, he couldn't bring himself to torch such a beautiful town. We left here, drove down the PD River, through the cotton fields, and into Bennettville.
You moved different, Colorado? Yes, I lived in Denver 26 years. Been in Boston for 11 years. There's nothing to do here. There's no bars or anything. It's like Mayberry, I guess. I can't tell. Is it more of a white? Is it more white? Half invent still. When you look up the information, it says it's half and uh very crimeridden, but I haven't noticed anything. It's like any ne uh city. Crime is where like all the blacks live that way. And there's other areas around, but they don't seem to be bothering this area. That's what they said. They've been here 40ome years.
There's a little town 8 miles away called Cleo. It's spelled Cleo, C L I O. And it was a one of the richest uh per capita millionaires uh at the beginning of the century. And there's a few big houses still left there, but a lot of big wealthy farmers and tobacco and cotton. So, there were a lot of rich people in this town at one time. See, them weirdos ain't out now. But um yo, they'll be here. What's it like around here? I don't like it. I've been down here over 20 years. I don't like it. Why not? Cuz they crazy and discombobulated around here.
What's Marorrow County like? First 48 down here, too. Yes. Uh I mean, what you mean? What's the vibe of the people like a small New York? The state the city and the county country New York. Are you born and raised here? Uh yeah. Has it changed much in your lifetime? Yeah. For the better or for the worse? Both. Yeah. The better is because everything expanding a little bit and building up a little bit. But the worst is I can promise you about nine out of 10 people out here. Probably a pack of
pistols now. I mean, it wasn't like that long time ago. You got north side, west side, east side. Same thing as New York. Blood Bloods Crips. You know what I mean? Here in this little town, you got blood and crips. When you going to meet Yo, they still arrest Do they still arrest people down here for weed? Hell yeah. I got a little five years for weed. [__] You still excuse my expression. Still with that redneck Honestly, your huh?
Get on in the video, TW. I give you a whole dollar. Get in the video. I mean, still this town here, boy. I don't know if y'all need to put me on y'all video. Y'all might need to take me off. And my name already ring bells. My last name ring bells around. Is it still president? It is. It's not as bad as it was, but it is to a certain extent. I ain't going to lie about that. What was it like when you were a kid? My people grew up working in fields. Sharecroppers. Yeah. How's South Carolina different from North Carolina? get hurt today, you'll get your disability in North Carolina tomorrow.
You'll probably you'll still be hunting for it right now in South Carolina. Chapel Hill, the hospital. Well, you know, University Hospital. Yeah, we ain't even got a hospital. This some [__] but I mean, I mean, yo, you laughing, but you thinking about it, you like, damn. Well, I mean, we're out here. What should people in New York know about Ben? It ain't [__] Do fist and drink some damn beer.
Right around ain't no damn jobs down here. Need some employment. It's poor, man. It's sick. You know, it's poor. The best jobs right here. M that type of [__] No hospital. That's like That's the main thing. No hospital. Police build a trauma unit down here. But they building more lipos than anything, man. What should we know about Bennettville? One thing to know about Bennettville. The man [__] the tiny [__] I'm being honest. All the me over here sitting next damn dope and they ain't trying to get the black man.
We ain't got no jobs, no nothing. Hey, I don't want to take the fools down. Not really that I know of. Yeah, it feels very kind of sleepy. Kind of old school. Yeah. Yeah, that's what it is. Old school. They don't, you know, they ain't change. Only thing they move from out of the fields. So it's better now. It's semi but now people in the state they don't want to work rather walk the streets and run the streets. You know they figure they make more money uh dealing drugs or stuff.
They don't care nothing about nothing. Life don't mean nothing to them. You read about that one. You read about that school that out on Friday in the summer Saturday morning. I was in North Carolina where my grandparents. You know what I mean? And we had to work. I hated it then. Bennettville thrived through World War II with its own oil company, bank, and cotton exchange. The local economy then collapsed, though, triggering an influx of black farm workers into the city. Our next stop embodied the towns those people left. At one point, Cleo allegedly had more millionaires per capita than any other city in South Carolina. Today it's almost a ghost town. There's a cotton gin here.
Yeah. Yeah, there's going to be a cotton gin right there. A hallway there. Hope you done that. And most of them don't know that. Was that stuff here when you were a kid? Yeah. Now, while you're here, I'm happy to introduce the sponsor of this video because it's one I actually rely on every month. Incogn. Now, imagine this. You're out on a road trip like we are, except you're enjoying vacation, and you find out that someone is taken out a loan in your name. Or maybe your phone keeps ringing and each time it's another spam call that knows a freakish amount
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Incogn plan using the link below with code Roka News. I can personally recommend this because I've been an Incogn subscriber for over a year and I've seen a huge decrease in the number of spam calls I get. In addition to sleeping better at night knowing I've been largely wiped from databases. So if you too want to disappear from the internet, use the incogn link below with the code roa news. Now back to South Carolina. So this is all cotton around here. Cotton farms. Yeah. Cotton and beans and stuff. So what's it like now? The cotton gin's gone. Yeah. All that gone. Plants gone. Back to the ghost town. People just stay here. That's you right there. He'll tell you.
All right. We'll we'll talk to him. Yes, sir. He know a lot of people know everything. He from D. He can tell you about all this. So, let me show you this here. They say this place here was like where uh farmers would come and they used to have like events here. This building here is the cowoon building. They've been farming here. They say since 1825. These people that own these buildings here. Uh-huh. So, I think they own thousands of acres. They perform the whole city. So, there's still farming around here.
Big farming. Yeah. Tobacco, corn. Was it better when you were a kid or is it better now? Well, all these buildings, everything was open as a smaller child. You know, it's really nothing here. Most people that was here, they staying all over the country. You know, there was a factory down here, they done closed up. Uh this other factory, I think they trying to reopen, but that's the news in most all small cities across America. When a lot of American jobs get outsourced, it tends to hurt the local people and most uh local economy dries up about 8 miles from here. There was the biggest manufacturer of this county here was a place called Mohawk. They employed about 600 or 700 people.
Uh they closed up about 3 years ago. There's no hospital in this county. I think it's about 20ome thousand people in this county here. No hospital. South Carolina is growing like crazy. I mean, we came from Greenville and you see everywhere factories and buildings and then you come out here and that kind of stops. But BMW that's up that way in Spartanberg, right? They was going to come to Malber County from what I heard, but due to it said the farmers didn't want to give the land up. If I was in a local government uh had the power to do so, if I let a uh a company that employed six
or 700 people leave my county, I would giving them the biggest tax break that he's looking for. I gave him a tax break just to keep these jobs here. Well, hey, your business looks like it's still going. You're still doing your thing. Um, brother, I'm I'm on double life support. What do you think about Trump now? Now, when he was president the first time, his ideals uh for the average American was great mountain. He was trying to turn things financially in the right direction because he's a businessman and he going
to look at things through the business lens. He's not a politician in the state of South Carolina. His first term, he helped a bunch of HBC colleges. He allowed a lot of funding to come to a lot of black colleges his first term. Uh they don't talk about that. This used to be a bank here and they wouldn't serve blacks. Blacks what they used to do, they used to come here and sit here. So what the white people did, they put these spikes there. They call them n spikes to prevent them from sitting down. And they still there to this day. They couldn't come on the inside the bank. So they used to sit here because you know what I'm saying? Tired. I mean they're built in. They're built into the wall here.
It's still there after all these years. Yeah. Nice design and everything. It's a beautiful building. I mean, the fact that you had an opera house in this town. Yeah. This city here had more millionaires. Have you did a research on this city? Someone said more millionaires per capita than almost any other place in the country. Yeah. Right here. Because of cotton, cheap labor. You know, that just history. That's American history. What is that? I mean this looks like a would have been beautiful up here.
Also the inside. Look at the rooftop. What was this? Huh? J. What's that? Grocery store. Yeah. When I was a little boy, man, the place used to be jumping. What changed? People started dying out. Different people started moving and then they move away and don't come back. Right. Mhm. We got no idea what happened, but as we were downtown in this tiny town, we saw seven sheriff's cars go by. We just pulled up and they're all out there. One guy had like a riot shield in front of him outside a house. Clio's story is
repeated in Cotton Town after Cotton Town. Outsourcing and mechanization eliminated the local jobs and the population imploded. The toll from this is not just economic. In our next and last stop, Lata, we learned that in a shocking way. Like all cotton towns we visited, Lata is literally divided in two by a train track. On one side you find the mansions where cotton planters and traders lived. On the other, where the workers did today, those areas are rough. Latter say it's not an internet town. What's that mean? Well, I don't think What's that mean? I mean, it's small. What's it What's the vibe of the town compared to New York? Slow. I'm just coming back. I just I got injured like 3 years ago.
I got shot over 10 times and ran over by. That's how I lost my legs. Got ran over. Where'd that happen? Uh on this block, you got shot 10 times on this block. Not this block, that one. It was a 17year-old, a 15y old, and a 13 shot me and killed the doctor. Killed the doctor, a nurse practitioner. Do you know why that happened? Uh jealousy, I guess. And people young not knowing, you know what I mean? So happened I survived. So but I don't blame nobody.
Did getting shot change your perspective on life. Getting shot showed me how real people are and how fake people are. I got a good understanding of life now. You got a good attitude. That's what everybody say. And you're supposed to have one because life too short. I can't make nothing happen. But I can change the way I live. So that's my object of the game. Change the my perspective of God. The way I've been living was not right. I'm 40. I got shot in my face when I was 16. So you got shot in your face. Yeah. Right here. Came out the back of my neck. So people can push on.
I'm strong enough. You can be too. This chair is remarkable. Let me show you why. rising up and real high too. Yeah, it's going to keep rising. Do you ride around like this ever or no? Do I? You do? Just Yeah. It's my That's pretty sick. Oh, it ain't going well. You're a welder? Yeah, man. I've been welding about 10 years. People say it's really good money, right? Steady work and good money. Yeah, it is. Um, well, it was for me like had been treating me good. It's getting better now.
We hear a lot of times people say there's no jobs and then we meet a lot of people who are Yeah. You know, trade in the trades whether it's welding or plumbing or whatever and they always they can always find work. Why do you think more people don't become welders or you know that kind of work? The welder not easy man. So, I can uh it takes a lot of time and repetition and you got to really uh perfect your craft. But, um as far as plumbing and all the other stuff, I don't really know. But I know it ain't really too many plumbers right now. They need plumbers, HVAC workers. It's it is kind of hard finding jobs around this area. But Florence tries to keep good bit of jobs and stuff.
On the other side of the tracks, it's a very different story. So, we haven't been able to find anyone to talk to in this town, Lada, that we're in. And then we talked to on the side of the road and they said, "Well, it's cuz everyone's over here at the little league games." And sure enough, we came over here and it is packed at the little league fields in this town. Everywhere you look here is just symbols of the money that used to be here. I mean, and it's still like a lot of these houses, they're not abandoned, and we're just not having any luck finding, you know, wealthy people to talk to here. But it's so evident this must have been such a rich area. And then today you still have that left,
but times have just changed. Now, how long you've lived in Atlanta? In Atlanta, I've been here going on 10 years now. What's it like? Quiet. On this side, we've got same troubles everywhere else has, you know, even though a small town, small town life, still uh you see impacts from things that go on nationwide. So, our hunch was driving around. We were on the other side of town, I guess, opposite side of downtown. Yeah. There it looked a bit poor. And then you come over here and mansions in a and Well, and they're all run down though.
You know, a lot of them are family-owned homes. Um that the next home over there, it's over 125 years old. An old farmhouse. Uh that one's probably close to a hundred years old. This seems like a beautiful place, but you can't help but feel like with I mean, look at this decayed on the side, but such a beautiful home. Yeah. And you know there that home was left to I think it was six family members. And when we moved into this neighborhood um we were actually we actually thought about that house but couldn't get it because no one would really take ownership and say yeah we'll sell it. And then the ones that did want to sell you know the price was
astronomical. So they would rather it rot away than sell it. So now driving around things make more sense here and that you know there's certain people who own properties and their landlords uh got one guy in the county especially he uh won't call any names but we call him the slum lord king because he buys up all these houses. He gets um you know slaps vinyl siding on them and air conditioning system. Cleans them up a little bit. little bit of fresh paint on the wall and hood housing. Take all that in, you get guaranteed occupancy even if no one's in there. People here have not just here but within the south have learned to ride the system. They know where to get the funds and how to get
the funds to improve themselves, but they don't improve lives, you know, just citizens around the community. We went through two really big hurricanes not long ago. uh Matthew and Florence and the community even though it has no sense of itself, the people in the community pulled together and helped each other out. Southern hospitality is also alive and well down here. The people are so friendly. Always people are friendly here. We're not scared to meet other people. Racism is almost dead here, you know, because it's a small community.
People know people. They go to school. Their kids go to school together. They work together. You don't judge people by the color of their skin. You judge the person by who they are. and that's the way I've always taken it. You know how much of like the old southern system is left? I mean, as far as I don't know like when people mention like the old boy, you know, the good old boy politics, it's prevalent every day. You sell, you buy, and it's all within a circle. You know, I gave you the money to win your election. Now I need this favor. So, it's I washed your back, you wash mine. So, after a long day of shooting, we just sat down at maybe the most authentic experience you can get in this part of the country, which is a country
Carolina buffet. We got pork, pork, hush puppies, collards, we got sweet potato casserole, colelaw, corn, a glass of sweet tea. Roa News is the news what this is to food. Pure, authentic, delicious, honest. Smash that subscribe button if you agree and thank you for watching. Today, South Carolina cotton is past its peak. Yet, life in the towns it built still goes on. Sometimes it's for the better, others for the worse. But one thing is undeniable. In South Carolina, the reign of King Cotton is still felt today.
