South Carolina senator Tim Scott, who is running for president, rejected the notion that the only way for an African American kid to be successful in America is to be an exception to the rule, arguing racial progress has been palpable.
Appearing on The View, Scott was asked by Sunny Hostin if he thinks America is systemically racist. The South Carolina senator responded that past comments on the show to this effect were the reason he decided to join the five hosts.
“One of the reasons why I’m on this show is some of the comments that were made frankly on this show, that the only way for a young African American kid to be successful in this country is to be the exception and not the rule. That is a dangerous, offensive, disgusting message to send to our young people today, that the only way to succeed is by being the exception,” said Scott. “The fact of the matter is we’ve had an African American president, African American vice president, we’ve had two African Americans to be secretaries of the state. In my home city, the police chief is an African American who’s now running for mayor. The head of the highway patrol for South Carolina is an African American.”
Scott announced his campaign in late May and argued the United States is the “freest and fairest land…I bear witness to that. I testify to that. That’s why I’m the candidate the far left fears the most.” The South Carolina senator has consistently challenged left-leaning ideas about race in America, including when he gave the Republican response to President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union. That has forced him to endure a barrage of racially-charged criticism from left-leaning figures.
“I disrupt their narrative. I threaten their control. The truth of my life disproves their lies,” Scott has argued in response to these attacks.
The South Carolina senator explained that when a kid turns on TV stations like ABC, ESPN, and Fox News today, he or she will see African American or Hispanic hosts. Additionally, half of the all of the African Americans who have served in the Senate have served in the last decade, explained Scott, “which means that the nation is making measurable progress in real time.”
“What I’m suggesting is that yesterday’s exception is today’s rule,” Scott said.
The South Carolina senator argued that progress can be measured and is borne out if one looks at the statistics.” In 1975, there was about 15 percent unemployment in the African American community. For the first time in the country, it’s under 5 percent,” Scott said.
He added that when his mother was born, about 10 percent of African Americans got a high school diploma. Today it’s over 90 percent.
“One of the reasons why I took the funding for HBCUs to the highest level in the history of the country and then I helped make it permanent is because I believe that education is the closest thing to magic in America so I’m about making sure that our kids have as many opportunities to succeed as possible,” he explained.
Scott also used his own family history to better highlight his point.
“Progress in America is palpable. It could be measured in generations. I look back at the fact that my grandfather — born in 1921 in Salley, South Carolina — when he was on the sidewalk and a white person was coming he had to step off and not make eye contact. That man believed then…in the goodness of America because he believed that having faith in God, faith in himself, and faith in what the future could hold for his kids would unleash opportunities in ways that you cannot imagine,” Scott explained.
The South Carolina senator admitted that both sides of the aisle can do a better job on race. However, explained Scott, he and his Republican colleagues have sought to accelerate progress, focusing in particular on economic success.
“The concept of America is that we’re going to become a more perfect union, but in fact the challenges that we faced 50 years ago and 60 years ago should not be the challenges that we face today,” Scott said.