Senator Tim Scott has praised President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for agreeing with him that America is 'not ...
Senator Tim Scott has praised President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for agreeing with him that America is 'not a racist country,' after critics attacked Scott with racial slurs over his rebuttal to Biden's joint address to Congress.
Scott, a South Carolina Republican, told CBS' Face The Nation on Sunday that he stood by his assessment that America is not racist, despite being pulled over 18 times for 'driving while black.'
'Let me say thank goodness that finally our president, our vice president and one of the leaders in the Democrat- Democrat caucus in the House, Jim Clyburn, have all come forward and said exactly what I've been saying for a long time. America is not a racist country,' Scott said in the interview.
'The question is, is there a lingering effect after a couple of centuries of racism and discrimination in this nation? The answer is absolutely,' he added.
Senator Tim Scott has praised President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for agreeing with him that America is 'not a racist country'
Biden and Harris both agreed last week that all of America is not racist, but were quick to insist that historical injustice and racism can never be forgotten
Scott, who is black, drew furious backlash from the left over his rebuttal to Biden's speech, with the slur 'Uncle Tim' trending on Twitter for hours before the service banned it.
The phrase is a reference to the Uncle Tom character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 abolitionist novel, who has come to be viewed as a caricature of a subservient black slave who grovels for the approval of whites.
As well, a leading Democratic Party figure in Texas came under fire after he was accused of racism for referring to Scott as 'Oreo,' a reference to the Nabisco snack cookie that is used as a derogatory slur for a black person who is perceived as 'white on the inside.'
Gary O'Connor, the chair of the Democratic Party in Lamar County, made the remark in a Facebook post that has since been deleted. DailyMail.com has reached out to O'Connor seeking comment.
In an interview on Friday, Biden agreed America is not racist but said after years of Jim Crow law, communities of color have been left 'far behind' in comments that addressed the race struggle in country, which was reignited after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
A leading Democratic Party figure in Texas came under fire after he was accused of racism for referring to Scott as 'an Oreo'
'Oreo' is a reference to the famous sandwich cookie made by Nabisco. It consists of two dark-colored wafers separated by a white, creme filling. In a racial context, 'Oreo' refers to a black person who is perceived as acting white
'No, I don't think the American people are racist,' Biden said. But, he noted, decades of Jim Crow laws - state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation - had left black Americans behind.
'I think after 400 years, after communities have been left in a position where they're so far behind in terms of education, health, in terms of opportunity, I don't think America's racist but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow, and before that slavery has had a cost that we have to deal with,' he said.
On Thursday, Harris also agreed that America is not a 'racist country' but said the nation must 'speak the truth' about its history with racism.
In his interview on Sunday, Scott argued that the important question is not whether America as a whole is racist, but how to best address the historical legacy of racial inequality in the country.
'The question we should be debating and fighting over is how do we resolve those issues going forward,' he said.
'One side says I'm going to take from some to give to others. Fighting bigotry with bigotry is hypocrisy. It just doesn't work,' said Scott. 'The second- our side, what I've suggested is let's expand opportunity and make sure that we are fully equipped for the challenges of the future.'
'One of the reasons why we have fought for and won the highest level of funding for historically black colleges, Republicans leading that fight is because I understand that if I could level the playing field in education, we will actually see human flourishing like we've never seen before,' he continued.
Scott blasted government programs that benefit one race exclusively, pointing to a recent measure that assists black farmers but not white farmers and saying 'that doesn't really work.'
In his rebuttal speech last week, Scott said: 'Hear me clearly: America is not a racist county'
In the interview, Scott also briefly alluded to his own experience being racially profiled by the police when discussing police reform.
'I personally understand the pain of being stopped 18 times driving while black,' he said.
In 2016, Scott said in a Senate floor speech that he had been pulled over seven times in the past year, claiming that two of the traffic stops were for speeding, but that five had no apparent justification.
'I also have seen the beauty of when officers go door-to-door with me on Christmas morning delivering presents to kids in the most underserved communities. So I think I bring an equilibrium to the conversation,' Scott said on Sunday.
Scott said he was working with Senate Republicans to reach a compromise with Democrats on police reform.
One key sticking point is qualified immunity, which protects civil servants, including police officers, from individual lawsuits when acting in the course of their duties.
Democrats want to eliminate qualified immunity, which they say is a shield for bad behavior, but Scott indicated that he seeks a compromise that would make it easier to sue police departments, rather than individual officers.
'Significant numbers in my party have already said to me, we will go where you go on this issue as long as I can explain my position. And we're going to do that,' he said.
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