United Citizens Party
United Citizens Party (Patriot Party of South Carolina) | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Split from | Democratic Party |
| Ideology | Progressivism Black nationalism |
| Political position | Center-left to Left-wing |
| National affiliation | Reform (1996) |
| Website | |
| Archived Website | |
The United Citizens Party (UCP) is an American political party first organized in 1969 in the U.S. state of South Carolina by John Roy Harper II and others, in response to the state Democratic Party's opposition to nominating black candidates. The party's objective was to elect blacks to the legislature and local offices in counties with black majority populations. The party ran candidates in 1970 and 1972; as a result in 1970 the first three black candidates were elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives since Reconstruction.