Through Maria Spiller
November 10, 2025
On South Carolina’s St. Helena Island, residents say traffic restrictions on their decades-old heritage parade reflect a deeper struggle against cultural eradication and increasing gentrification.
For nearly 40 years, the annual Penn Center Heritage Day Parade has brought music, color and community pride to St. Helena Island, South Carolina. Every November, locals and visitors line the road from the elementary school to the Penn Center – the first school for former slaves – to celebrate the Gullah Geechee heritage with drums, gospel choirs and floats draped in vibrant fabric.
But this year, what was once a joyous parade was scaled back after Beaufort County officials cited traffic concerns.
According to to the New York TimesThe St. Helena Island parade route was shortened, the number of floats was reduced, and participants were limited to one lane of Highway 21 instead of the full roadway. For many residents, those changes symbolized a larger struggle to preserve their culture amid rapid development and demographic shifts.
“It’s not just a parade, but a beautiful display of our heritage,” said the Rev. Isiah Smalls, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church. “This is like telling your wife, ‘Honey, it’s our wedding, but go ahead and wear your jeans.'”
Sheriff PJ Tanner defended the decision, saying traffic had become out of control. Highway 21, he noted, is the only route to nearby Hunting Island State Park and Fripp Island. “You know, I agree: You’ve been doing this for 40 years,” Tanner said. “But now, in 2025, the landscape of this province has changed.”
Residents argue the restrictions reflect more than just logistics: They show how the island’s black community feels increasingly pushed aside by affluent newcomers. “Why pick an event that represents the black community, represents our culture, and try to ruin it?” asked Deacon James Peter Smalls, who returned to lead the parade after recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident last year.
The Gullah Geechee people – descendants of West Africans once enslaved along southern coastal areas – have seen their ancestral lands come under pressure from rising property taxes and new gated communities. They have fought to block a proposed golf course and to enforce zoning laws that ban private resorts.
Dr. Robert L. Adams Jr., director of the Penn Center, acknowledged the complexity. “I don’t want to simplify it to, ‘It’s Fripp versus St. Helena, rich white people versus black people,’” he said. “It has to do with growth.”
Still, for lifelong residents like Carrie Major, the loss of space on the parade route felt personal. “The disrespect feels like a slap in the face,” she said.
Even with fewer floats and a thinner crowd, the sounds of drums and the laughter of children returned to Highway 21. The celebration continued, though many feared that each passing year would bring with it another small piece of their heritage at risk of disappearing.
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