Gullah Geechee Parade Faces Cutbacks Amid Tensions Over Growth And Tradition

On South Carolina’s St. Helena Island, residents say traffic restrictions on their decades-old heritage parade reflect a deeper struggle against cultural erasure and rising 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 formerly enslaved people — to celebrate Gullah Geechee heritage with drums, gospel choirs, and floats draped in vibrant fabric.

But this year, what was once a joyful procession was scaled back after Beaufort County officials cited traffic concerns.

According to the New York Times, the St. Helena Island parade route was shortened, floats were reduced, and participants were confined to one lane of Highway 21 instead of the full roadway. To many residents, those changes symbolized a larger fight 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 P. J. Tanner defended the decision, saying traffic had become unmanageable. 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, this county’s landscape has changed.”

Residents argue that the restrictions reflect more than logistics — they reveal how the island’s Black community feels increasingly pushed aside by affluent newcomers. “Why pick on an event that represents the Black community, represents our culture, and try to mess it up?” asked Deacon James Peter Smalls, who returned to marshal the parade after recovering from injuries from a car accident last year.

The Gullah Geechee people — descendants of West Africans once enslaved along the coastal South — have seen their ancestral lands squeezed by rising property taxes and new gated communities. They’ve fought to block a proposed golf course and to keep zoning laws that forbid private resorts.

Dr. Robert L. Adams Jr., director of the Penn Center, acknowledged the complexity. “I don’t want to simplify it into, ‘It’s Fripp versus St. Helena, rich white folks versus Black folks,’” he said. “It’s connected to 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 thinner crowds, the sounds of drums and children’s laughter returned to Highway 21. The celebration went on, though many feared that each passing year brings another small piece of their heritage at risk of fading away.