'Failure is not an option'

By Charles Sowell  

JANUARY 13, 2011 9:21 a.m. (1)

Nikki Haley was a thin little girl, all elbows and knees, with a shock of raven hair and intelligent black eyes when Jamie Brabham watched her play with her daughter in Bamberg about 30 years ago.

Haley was bright and focused as a child, said her 7th grade social studies teacher Harriett Coker.

“But I didn’t notice anything in her that would hint that she’d go on to become governor. She just a smart, friendly young girl with a quick smile.”

It was an assessment shared by others who knew Haley in the tiny Lowcountry town. There were glimmers but little that would indicate Haley would become the governor of South Carolina and a precedent setting, glass-ceiling shatterer in the hide-bound world of Palmetto politics at that.

On Wednesday, amid the traditional pomp and circumstance of a gubernatorial inaugural, Haley was sworn in as the state’s 117th governor. She promised to adhere to the tea party principals that helped propel her into power.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal administered the oath of office on a blustery winter day as sparkles of reflected sunlight danced on the blue granite steps of the State House behind them.

“We have a history of fierce independence, and that independence has some remarkable relevance for us today,” Haley said. “While in 1773 it was the Tea Party in Boston that became famous, there was also a whole lot of tea dumped in the Charleston harbor that December. We declared independence from Great Britain some four months before Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. And at Kings Mountain just over our northern border, our local militia – not professional soldiers – helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War that brought us the freedom we still enjoy to this day. Let’s see: tax protests, tea parties, the grassroots beating the professionals – it does have a certain familiar ring to it.”

How Haley’s espoused populist principals will play out with the state’s far more traditional members of the House and Senate remains to be seen.

She promised to have dialogue with lawmakers, something former Gov. Mark Sanford didn’t have, and acknowledged the state faces tremendous fiscal problems going into this session of the Legislature.

Budget and Control Board estimates put the state’s funding shortfall at between $800 and $900 million. Haley promised no new taxes and to streamline government and make it more accountable.

Haley was born as Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to Ajit and Raj Randhawa on Jan. 20, 1972, in Bamberg. She has four siblings – two brothers, Mitti and Charan, and a sister, Simran. Her parents are Sikhs, a tiny religious subculture in India, and are from Amritsar in Punjab province.

Ajit, her father, is a professor at Voorhees College. The family moved to Bamberg in the 1960s. The story of the family putting down roots in Bamberg is universally acknowledged as best told by town doctor Michael Watson who took the family under his wing during a racially unsettled time in South Carolina. He also delivered Nikki and two of her siblings.

As Watson, now retired, tells the story a woman called and wanted to speak with him one day in his office. He met Raj Randhawa in the waiting room shortly thereafter.

This was not long after they did away with separate waiting rooms for blacks and whites in Bamberg.

Watson said Mrs. Randhawa told him her mother was sick in India and asked him to read a letter from a friend in the hopes that he could determine what was wrong with Raj’s mom.

The letter was no help and Watson told her he couldn’t tell what was wrong. Raj left and Watson thought no more about it until several weeks later when Raj called again to ask if he could visit their home on the Voorhees campus and examine her mother.

“If they could go all the way to India to get her, I thought surely I can go over to Denmark (S.C.) and examine the lady,” Watson said.

Visiting the family in their cramped campus housing at Voorhees, Watson found Raj’s mom to be suffering from a progressive paralysis in her lower extremities.

He was not able to determine the cause and the family had no insurance, so Watson contacted friends at the Medical University in Charleston and arranged for Raj’s mom to be treated as a teaching patient for free.

Watson didn’t know it at the time but that simple act of kindness cemented his relationship with the family and could carry him straight into the teeth of old-time Southern prejudice.

Some time after Raj’s mom was treated in Charleston, she called Watson again and asked if he could help the family find a house where the mother would not have to climb stairs.

Their quarters at Voorhees were on the second floor.

Watson found a house that would work well for the family, but neighbors spied Mrs. Randhawa talking to the owners and quickly roused the area.

“They didn’t want a black family moving into their neighborhood,” Watson said. “They planned a community meeting and I was the first in line to get in.”

Watson explained the family’s situation, essentially reading the gathering the riot act. They relented and said the family could move in. Watson said he told them “not on your life. Not after you pulled this.”

He found the Randhawas another house and met with the same results.

Frustrated, he scouted for another home. But this time he went to all the neighbors and explained the situation before showing it to the family.

“One of the neighbors, the last one I went to see, told me he’s been watching me and that he was alright with the family moving in,” Watson said. “So long as ‘you promise to work as hard to get them out as you did to get them in if things don’t work out.’”

The Randhawas moved in and Ajit eventually hired the skeptic to do some carpentry work on the house, Watson said. “They went on to become good friends.”

Some time later Watson was called to the Randhawa home to examine Raj’s mother, who was suffering from a fever.

“I examined the lady,” Watson said. “And I turned to find the entire family lined up behind me, like for some kind of ceremony.”

Translating for her mother, Raj asked, “Is it acceptable by your church to take a donation from a non-Christian?”

Watson’s deep affiliation with the Methodist Church was well known in Bamburg.

“I told her, I think so,” Watson said.

“Well, my mother would like to make a gift,” Raj said.

Which was how the Methodist Church in India became the owners of an eight-story hotel on the shores of the Sikh sacred lake in Amritsar. It has since become the home of the first Methodist college in India.

Nikki Haley is a Methodist.

 

Inaugural Address

As Prepared for Delivery

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Statehouse, Columbia

GOVERNOR NIKKI R. HALEY: I want to thank each and every one of you for coming out on this beautiful, chilly morning.

On this special day, I want to thank Michael and my two sweet children for the unconditional love and support they continue to show me. We as a family are honored to serve this great state.

Michael and I want to thank both of our families for the strength, guidance, and advice they give us during the best and the most challenging times.  They are constant reminders of what it means to carry ourselves with grace and dignity.

We want to thank Governor Mark Sanford for his service to South Carolina and his fight for the citizens of this state.

To Ms. Jenny Sanford, thank you for representing South Carolina with strength and grace for the last eight years. Your friendship has meant so much to our family.

To the Sanford boys, thank you for allowing the people of South Carolina the opportunity to watch you grow up into fine young men.  Rena and Nalin look forward to continuing your games and mazes at the Mansion.

Today is a great day in South Carolina!

It's a day for new beginnings.  It's a day to turn the page from the past. And it's a day filled with anticipation of the next chapter in our state's future.

Before we talk about our bright future, it's important to pay respect to our past.  Our state has an incredibly powerful and rich history.  It is one that has not always been pleasant, but one that can teach us many great lessons.

We have a history of fierce independence, and that independence has some remarkable relevance for us today. While in 1773 it was the Tea Party in Boston that became famous, there was also a whole lot of tea dumped in the Charleston harbor that December. We declared independence from Great Britain some four months before Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. And at Kings Mountain just over our northern border, our local militia -- not professional soldiers -- helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War that brought us the freedom we still enjoy to this day.

Let's see: tax protests, tea parties, the grassroots beating the professionals -- it does have a certain familiar ring to it.

Of course, when talking about our past, it would be wrong to mention our greatness during the revolutionary period without noting the ugliness of much that followed.  The horrors of slavery and discrimination need not be retold here.  They too remain a part of our history and a part of the fabric of our lives.

But I do take comfort in, and agree with, the words of columnist George Will, when he recently wrote this about our state's past struggles: “If the question is which state has changed most in the last half-century, the answer might be California.  But if the question is which state has changed most for the better, the answer might be South Carolina.”

I stand before you today, the proud daughter of Indian immigrants. Growing up in rural, small town South Carolina, my family experienced this state and this country at its best. No, not every day was perfect. No, we were not always free from the burdens faced by those who look and sound different.

But we counted our blessings, and my parents reminded me and my brothers and sister every day how blessed we were to live in this country.  We saw the constant example of neighbors helping neighbors.

For us, happiness existed in not knowing what we didn't have, and in knowing that what we did have was the opportunity to better our lives through hard work and strong values.

You see, my mother was offered one of the first female judgeships in her native country, but was unable to serve on the bench because of the challenges of being a woman in India.  Now she sits here today watching her daughter become Governor of South Carolina, the state she proudly calls her home.  When you grow up with a mom like that, the word "can't" is not in your vocabulary.

I will always be the proud daughter of immigrants.  I will always cherish our family's experience.  And I will always strive in my actions and in my words to make South Carolina a place where all of our children, regardless of race or gender, know that unlimited opportunities for happiness and success await them.

Today, our state and our nation face difficult times.  Far too many of our fellow citizens are without a job.  Our economy is not growing as it should.  Our state budget has its largest shortfall ever.

But when I survey this troubled landscape, I am not discouraged.  We have faced tougher times before and come through them.  We know that tough times can produce some of the best decisions.  And it is our duty to make this time of challenge into the opportunity it can be to turn our state around.  It is indeed a new day, and on this new day, we must commit ourselves to the proposition that failure is not an option.

When I think on our present economic challenges, I am reminded of the words of Margaret Thatcher, who said: “Once we concede that public spending and taxation are [more] than a necessary evil, we have lost sight of the core values of freedom.”

Nearly two years ago, the federal government in Washington decided to transfer its irresponsible fiscal practices to the states. And our state, like every other, accepted it.  When we produce this year's budget, we will see the heavy price we pay for having done so.

In our coming actions, we must recognize that we will not produce the jobs our people deserve by placing higher tax burdens on our workers and our small businesses.  And we will not reach prosperity by increasing state government's share of our economy.

Be assured, however, that I have every confidence we will achieve a much more prosperous place.  And we will do so by going back to that spirit of independence that fueled South Carolina's leading role in defeating the strongest nation on earth two centuries ago.

When we embark on this new journey toward growth and prosperity, we must do so together, with one vision. A vision that is focused on the success of our families and businesses is a vision that is not impaired by partisanship, personalities, or distractions. We don't have time for that, and I won't stand for it.

Many times over the last eighteen months I asked South Carolinians to join a movement.  That movement was never about one person or one election.  Our state constitution requires the Governor and the General Assembly to work together to serve South Carolina well.  And work together we will.

But the energy that drives our cooperation does not come from within this beautiful capitol building behind me. The energy comes from the sound of the people's voices.  The success of the movement I asked you to join will be realized when elected officials are accountable for their votes, when citizen participation in government reaches new heights, and when the voice heard loudest is neither mine nor any other elected officials', but is that of the taxpayers of this state.

In the days, weeks, and months ahead, we have the opportunity to reduce state spending and make it more efficient.  We have the opportunity to improve education and allow our children to be successful regardless of where they are born.  We have the opportunity to strengthen our small businesses to help them create the jobs our people need.  We have the opportunity to restructure our state government to make it more transparent, more accountable, and more respectful of the people of South Carolina.

We must seize these inspiring opportunities.  If we do, we will have a state where good jobs are in constant supply, where South Carolina becomes the envy of the nation, and where we are so free of political distractions that the media is forced to report on good news.  Just imagine that.

That is my South Carolina.  It's the South Carolina I want for my children and for every family in our great state.

So, with faith in God, who knows what is right,  And faith in our own ability to use the skills and judgment He gives us to do what is right, we can make this vision a reality.

Thank you.  May God bless South Carolina.  And may He continue to bless the United States of America.