Turks of South Carolina

Common card · No. 440558

The Turks of South Carolina, also known as Turks of Sumter County or Sumter Turks, are a mixed-ancestry group descended from a Middle Eastern or North African ancestor from the Ottoman Empire, whose members have lived in northern Sumter County, South Carolina, since the late 18th century and identify as Turkish Americans. In local usage, the term "Turk" has historically been employed in a pejorative manner and is considered derogatory by many within the community, who today prefer to be referred to as "Turkish" or "the Turkish people." As of 2018, they numbered no more than 400 in the town of Dalzell, with a slight majority carrying the surname Benenhaley. According to former U.S. Representative Glen Browder, "they have always been a tight-knit and isolated community of people who identified as being of Turkish descent". In 2013, the South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs state-recognized the Sumter Tribe of Cheraw Indians, whose membership wholly descends from the Turks of South...

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