Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), 57, reacted strongly to comments made on ABC’s “The View” by co-host Joy Behar saying the junior senator from South Carolina is like 74-year-old Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, denying that systemic racism exists in American. Calling Behar’s remarks “literally the dumbest most offensive thing I’ve witnessed on TV,” Scott defied the prevailing claptrap in the African American community over slavery reparations, not to mention the common mantra of the Democrat Party. Blacks as victims of racist society is something the National Association for Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] has been preaching for years, the idea that White society holds back Black folks. Scott rejected Behar’s comments accusing the two-term senator to ignoring what the NAACP knows as systemic racism in the United States.
President Joe Biden, 80, ran his 2020 campaign courting African American voters saying that systemic racism existed in America. Biden’s remarks came back to bite him March 18, 2021 when the U.S. held a get-to-know-you summit with Communist China in Anchorage, Alaska. When Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 60 and 45-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused Beijing of committing genocide on Muslim Uyghurs in Western China, senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi admonished the White House. Yi told Blinken and Sullivan that no country that engages in “systemic racism” against Blacks should lecture any country on human rights. Yi had a point after hearing Biden say that the United States is a systemically racist country. Since Biden took office Jan. 20, 2021, the African American lobby has demanded that the U.S. pay slavery reparations.
Scott gave Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who announced his run for president May 24, cover from the New York Times and Washington Post, already slamming him for his racist policies in Florida. DeSantis said May 29 that he would end “wokeism” in America, something that’s come to mean “systemic racism” in American. Behar said Scott, who happens to be Black, is oblivious to systemic racism. “He’s one of those guys . . . Black Republican who believes in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, rather than, to me, understanding the systemic racism that African Americans face in this country, and other minorities. He doesn’t get it. Neither does Clarence. And that’s why they’re Republicans,” Behar said. So, in Behar’s mind, all Republicans are racists because they don’t accept the idea of systemic racism. Blacks blame White Society racism for why there are income disparities between racial groups.
Scott pointed to an old photo of Behar dressing up in blackface, something that was fairly common at one time at Halloween. Speaking on the “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” Scott rebuked Behar for stereotyping him. “Three’s no doubt a white lady dressing up in blackface giving a Black man advice probably doesn’t ring true in anyone’s mind, certainly not my own, but . . . I find it offensive and disgusting and dangerous for a very different reason,” Scott told the hosts. DeSantis has been waging a campaign in Florida against “wokeism,” a word that’s been come to define the view that systemic racism drives contemporary American society. U.S. Supreme Court takes up the issue of affirmative action in college admissions, something pushed by the NAACP and other Black lobbying groups. Because of longstanding poverty in the Black community, advocates think in levels the playing field.
Scott agrees 100% with DeSantis that rejects that idea that systemic racism is the key factor in preventing Blacks from advancing in White society. “I’m used to the left attacking me because the truth of my life disproves their lies,” Scott said. “When I helped write the Tax and Jobs Act, they called me a prop. When I started talking about re-funding the police, they called me a token. When I stepped forward and pushed back on the President Biden’s malign agenda, they called me the n-word. I’m used to it,” Scott said, rejecting the idea that systemic racism exists. Scott agrees with 70-year-old former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson. Carson told his story of growing up in Detroit’s 9-Mile ghetto, rising above the drugs and gangs, to become one of the nation’s leading neurosurgeons. Carson doesn’t buy that discrimination or systemic racism holds anyone back.
Scott has the courage of his convictions about the role systemic racism plays in American life. Scott believes that whatever laws existed to discriminate against Blacks, they’ve all been rescinded or replaced in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. Scott believes there’s nothing holding back the African American community other than a victim mentality, demanding that government sponsor slavery reparations. “For every child in America wants to think for themselves, draw their own conclusions, what they’re saying is ‘Stay in your place,’ don’t stick you head up because we’re going to tell you how to think,” Scott said. Scott’s message to the Black community running for president is look at what I’ve done, you can do it too. Scott wants the African American community to step up to the challenge, play by the rules, work hard and watch yourself succeed like anyone else.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
