Turks of South Carolina

Last updated February 13, 2024

The Turks of South Carolina, also known as Sumter Turks or Turks of Sumter County,^[1] are a group of people who have lived in the general area of Sumter County, South Carolina since the late 18th century. According to Professor Glen Browder, "they have always been a tight-knit and isolated community of people who identified as being of Turkish descent".^[2]

Misrepresentations of the community

Dr. Terri Ann Ognibene, a "Sumter Turk" herself, has discussed the misrepresentations of the community:

We are the Turkish people of Sumter County, in the state of South Carolina. Our story has never been told fully and accurately. We have roots that extend all the way back to the Revolutionary War. We fought in the Civil War and in the World Wars I and II. But for centuries our rich history has been overlooked and misrepresented, our cultural identity questioned, and we were denied equal access to education because of the tones of our skin. We persevered, and we prevailed. Now, though our spirit endures, the Turkish community faces new and different challenges as a fading ethnicity in the twenty-first century.^[4]

Early examples of the community's misrepresentation date to at least the 19th century. The tax collector of Sumter sent an inquiry to the South Carolina Committee on the Colored Population, dated December 7, 1858, as to whether the "descendants of Egyptians and Indians" residing in Sumter should be taxed under the bracket of "Free Blacks, mulattoes and mestizos, or as whites."^[5]^{[ better source needed ]} In the early 20th century, some believed that they were of primarily Native American background, with some admixture of Turkish.^[6] They have been mistakenly connected to a family of "Free Moors" who resided in Charleston (see Free Moors of South Carolina).

Assimilation

In their study on the Sumter Turks, Dr. Terri Ann Ognibene and Professor Glen Browder said the following regarding identity and assimilation:

Our investigation has documented that the community of mainly dark-skinned people was founded by the Ottoman Turk, and it was nurtured by a nexus of patriarchy, blood, marriage, color, isolation, discrimination, and identity. The Benenhaleys began their secluded existence at the beginning of the 1800s and others joined them over the years. These huddled families—mainly the Benenhaleys, Oxendines, Rays, Hoods, Buckners, and Lowreys—assumed a common identity as an outcast group, and they kept to themselves for many generations in rural South Carolina. The Turkish people neither blended openly and prominently into mainstream society nor dissipated in the shadows as scattered refugees. They sustained themselves as the single clear case of an ethnic community that went its own separate way toward cultural isolation for almost two centuries. The community numbered about five hundred at its peak in the mid-twentieth century; and only in the past few decades have they begun assimilating into broader society.^[7]

History

The "Turk" community traces its history back to an early settler from the Ottoman Empire, Joseph Benenhaley, who reputedly served the colonial cause in the American Revolutionary War.^[8] He made his way to South Carolina, where he served as a scout for General Thomas Sumter during the American Revolution. General Sumter then gave Benenhaley land on his plantation to farm and raise a family. A few outsiders married into the family, but most who identified with the ostracized community, and their progeny considered themselves people of Turkish descent. By the mid-20th century, they numbered several hundred.^[8]

The Turks of South Carolina today include surnames such as Benenhaley, Oxendine, Scott, Hood, Buckner, Lowery, Chavis, and Ray.^[9]

Marriages in the community

The community has generally been "cautious about outside society." Consequently, "few outsiders were accepted in the community, and Turkish people mainly married within their own crowd for generations". Hence, the repetition of family surnames throughout the generations. It is very likely that while there were no forced marriages "there were unwritten societal customs in each group regarding the acceptable parameters of marriage".^[10]

Genetic studies

DNA reports on living members of the Turkish community who descend from Joseph Benenhaley showed that the genetic profile indicates significant connections to the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/North African regions, along with substantial west European admixture and some potential evidence of Native American linkages. Notably, the DNA results showed no discernible contributions from Sub-Saharan Africa, contradicting criticism that the community had claimed Turkish ancestry to cover African roots.^[11]

Discrimination

The community's heritage has reflected their long experience of isolation and discrimination in rural South Carolina.^[12] Due to segregation policies in the past, there were "Turkish schools, Turkish school buses, and Turkish cinemas in this period."^[3]

Notes

↑ Browder, Glen; Ognibene, Terri Ann (2017). "Who Was Joseph Benenhaley? Exploring the 200-Year-Old Mystery of Sumter County's Turkish Patriarch and His People" (PDF). Carologue . 33 (2–3): 20.
↑ Alani, Hannah (2018), Hidden for centuries, SC descendants of Ottoman Turks come forward with stories of racism, The Post and Courier , retrieved 23 December 2020
1 2 Housand, Tim (2018). "The Turkish people of Sumter County". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved 23 December 2020. ... the Turkish people of Sumter County represent a complete enigma. Sumter County is a relatively poor, rural county and there aren't a whole lot of Turkish residents, comprising only at most 400 people around the town of Dalzell. A slight majority have born with the same last name: Benenhaley.
↑ Browder & Ognibene 2017, 23.
↑ Hill, S. Pony (2012). Strangers in Their Own Land: South Carolina's State Tribes. Columbia: BackInTyme Press.
↑ Taylor, Rosser H. (1942). Ante-Bellum South Carolina: A Social and Cultural History. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
↑ Ognibene & Browder 2018, 103.
1 2 Ognibene, Terri Ann; Browder, Glen (2018), South Carolina's Turkish People: A History and Ethnology, University of South Carolina, p. 64, ISBN 9781611178593
↑ Gregorie, Anne King (2018). History of Sumter County, South Carolina. Sumter, SC: Sumter County Genealogical Society. p. 468. ISBN 978-0893088576.
↑ Ognibene & Browder 2018 , 20.
↑ Browder & Ognibene 2017 , 22.
↑ Ognibene & Browder 2018 , 19.

Related Research Articles

Sumter County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 105,556. Its county seat is Sumter.

Dalzell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,175 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Sumter, South Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Sumter is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, South Carolina, United States. The city makes up the Sumter, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sumter County, along with Clarendon and Lee counties, form the core of Sumter–Lee–Clarendon tri-county area of South Carolina that includes three counties straddling the border of the Sandhills, Pee Dee, and Lowcountry regions. The population was 43,463 at the 2020 census, making it the 9th-most populous city in the state.

The Székelys, also referred to as Szeklers, are a Hungarian subgroup living mostly in the Székely Land in Romania. In addition to their native villages in Suceava County in Bukovina, a significant population descending from the Székelys of Bukovina currently lives in Tolna and Baranya counties in Hungary and certain districts of Vojvodina, Serbia.

Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land once they arrived in Cyprus. Additionally, many of the island's local Christians converted to Islam during the early years of Ottoman rule. Nonetheless, the influx of mainly Muslim settlers to Cyprus continued intermittently until the end of the Ottoman period. Today, while Northern Cyprus is home to a significant part of the Turkish Cypriot population, the majority of Turkish Cypriots live abroad, forming the Turkish Cypriot diaspora. This diaspora came into existence after the Ottoman Empire transferred the control of the island to the British Empire, as many Turkish Cypriots emigrated primarily to Turkey and the United Kingdom for political and economic reasons.

Turkish people or Turks are the largest Turkic people who speak various dialects of the Turkish language and form a majority in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. In addition, centuries-old ethnic Turkish communities still live across other former territories of the Ottoman Empire. Article 66 of the Turkish Constitution defines a "Turk" as: "Anyone who is bound to the Turkish state through the bond of citizenship." While the legal use of the term "Turkish" as it pertains to a citizen of Turkey is different from the term's ethnic definition, the majority of the Turkish population are of Turkish ethnicity. The vast majority of Turks are Muslims and follow the Sunni and Alevi faith.

Gurbeti are a sub-group of the Romani people living in Cyprus and North Cyprus, Turkey, Crimea, Albania, Serbia and the former Yugoslavia whose members are Eastern Orthodox and predominantly Muslim Roma. The Gurbeti make up approximately two thirds of the population of Roma in Macva, many of whom work in agriculture. In Kosovo, other Romani groups viewed the Gurbeti negatively.

Tatars in Bulgaria are Crimean Tatar, but also Nogai Tatar minorities in Bulgaria.

Turkification, Turkization, or Turkicization describes a shift whereby populations or places received or adopted Turkic attributes such as culture, language, history, or ethnicity. However, often this term is more narrowly applied to mean specifically Turkish rather than merely Turkic, therefore referring to the Ottoman Empire, and the Turkish nationalist policies of the Republic of Turkey toward ethnic minorities in Turkey. As the Turkic states developed and grew, there were many instances of this cultural shift.

The Turkish diaspora refers to ethnic Turkish people who have migrated from, or are the descendants of migrants from, the Republic of Turkey, Northern Cyprus or other modern nation-states that were once part of the former Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Turkish diaspora is not only formed by people with roots from mainland Anatolia and Eastern Thrace ; rather, it is also formed of Turkish communities which have also left traditional areas of Turkish settlements in the Balkans, the island of Cyprus, the region of Meskhetia in Georgia, and the Arab world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkish Americans</span> Americans of Turkish birth or descent

Turkish Americans or American Turks are Americans of ethnic Turkish origin. The term "Turkish Americans" can therefore refer to ethnic Turkish immigrants to the United States, as well as their American-born descendants, who originate either from the Ottoman Empire or from post-Ottoman modern nation-states. The majority trace their roots to the Republic of Turkey, however, there are also significant ethnic Turkish communities in the US which descend from the island of Cyprus, the Balkans, North Africa, the Levant and other areas of the former Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, in recent years there has been a significant number of ethnic Turkish people coming to the US from the modern Turkish diaspora, especially from the Turkish Meskhetian diaspora in Eastern Europe and "Euro-Turks" from Central and Western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Browder</span> American politician

John Glen Browder is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama's 3rd congressional district. Browder was born in Sumter, South Carolina and graduated in 1961 from Edmunds High School in Sumter. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, in 1965. He went on to obtain a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in political science from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1971.

Its members are referred to as Turkish Gypsy, Türk Çingeneler, Turski Tsigani, Turkogifti (τουρκο-γύφτοι), Țigani turci, Török Cigányok, Turci Cigani. Through self-Turkification and Assimilation in the Turkish culture over centuries, this Muslim Roma have adopted the Turkish language and lost Rumelian Romani language, in order to establish a Turkish Identity to become more recognized by the Host population and deny their Romani background to show their Turkishness. At Population Census they declared themself as Turks instead as Roma and said How happy is the one who says I am a Turk, however, Turks consider them as fake-Turks, and Christian Romani do not consider them as part of the Romani society. They are Cultural Muslims who adopted Sunni Islam of Hanafi madhab and Religious male circumcision at the time of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate and Ottoman Empire. Their legendary leader was Mansur ibn Yakub Han, called Çingene Han. He built his karavansaray in Malatya in 1224. Today it can still be seen as a ruin. Mansur bin Yakup Han is buried in the Ulu Mosque in Malatya.

Muslim Romani people are people who are ethnically Roma and profess Islam. There are many different Roma groups and subgroups that predominantly practice Islam, as well as individual Romani people from other subethnic groups who have accepted Islam. Xoraxane Roma in Balkan Romani language, are non-Vlax Romani people, who adopted Sunni Islam of the Hanafi madhhab at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Some of them are Derviş of Sufism belief, and the biggest Tariqa of Jerrahi is located at the largest Arlije and Gurbeti Muslim Roma settlement in Europe in Šuto Orizari, locally called Shutka in North Macedonia have their own Romani Imam and the Muslim Roma in Šuto Orizari use the Quran in Balkan Romani language. Many Romanlar in Turkey, are members of the Hindiler Tekkesi a Qadiriyya-Tariqa, founded in 1738 by the Indian Muslim Sheykh Seyfullah Efendi El Hindi in Selamsız. Roma Muslims in Turkey and Balkan are mostly cultural Muslims or nominal Muslims.

The Romani people in Turkey or Turks of Romani background are Turkish citizens and the biggest subgroup of the Turkish Roma. They are Sunni Muslims mostly of Sufi orientation, who speak Turkish as their first language, in their own accent, and have adopted Turkish culture. Many have denied their Romani background over the centuries in order to establish a Turkish identity, to become more accepted by the host population. They identify themselves as Turks of Oghuz ancestry. More specifically, some have claimed to be members of the Yörüks, Amuca, Gajal or Tahtacı.

The Turks in Europe refers to Turkic peoples living in Europe, particularly those of Turkish origin.

Turks in London or London Turks refers to Turkish people who live in London, the capital city of the United Kingdom. The Turkish community in the United Kingdom is not evenly distributed across the country. As a result, the concentration of the Turks is almost all in Greater London. The Turks have created Turkish neighbourhoods mostly in North and North-East London however there are also Turkish communities in South London and the City of Westminster.

Turco-Albanian is an ethnographic, religious, and derogatory term used by Greeks for Muslim Albanians from 1715 and thereafter. In a broader sense, the term included both Muslim Albanian and Turkish political and military elites of the Ottoman administration in the Balkans. The term is derived from an identification of Muslims with Ottomans and/or Turks, due to the Ottoman Empire's administrative millet system of classifying peoples according to religion, where the Muslim millet played the leading role. From the middle of the nineteenth century, the term Turk and from the late nineteenth century onwards, the derivative term Turco-Albanian has been used as a pejorative term, phrase and or expression for Muslim Albanian individuals and communities. The term has also been noted to be unclear, ideologically and sentimentally charged, and an imperialist and racialist expression. Albanians have expressed derision and disassociation toward the terms Turk and its derivative form Turco-Albanian regarding the usage of those terms in reference to them. It has been reported that at the end of the 20th century some Christian Albanians still used the term "Turk" to refer to Muslim Albanians.

Albanians in Turkey are ethnic Albanian citizens and denizens of Turkey. They consist of Albanians who arrived during the Ottoman period, Kosovar/Macedonian and Tosk Cham Albanians fleeing from Serbian and Greek persecution after the beginning of the Balkan Wars, alongside some Albanians from Montenegro and Albania proper. A 2008 report from the Turkish National Security Council (MGK) estimated that approximately 1.3 million people of Albanian ancestry live in Turkey, and more than 500,000 recognizing their ancestry, language and culture. There are other estimates however that place the number of people in Turkey with Albanian ancestry and background upward to 5 or 6 million.

References

Terri Ann Ognibene; Glen Browder (2018). South Carolina's Turkish People: A History and Ethnology. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 9781611178593.