Rebutting President Joe Biden’s address to Congress on Wednesday, South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott observed that “America is not a racist country. It’s backwards to fight discrimination with different types of discrimination. And it’s wrong to try to use our painful past to dishonestly shut down debates in the present.”
Well said.
But Scott doesn’t stand alone. Asked by ABC’s Good Morning America about Scott’s comments, Vice President Kamala Harris surprisingly but correctly said, “I don’t think America is a racist country, but we also do have to speak truth about the history of racism in our country and its existence today.”
In his speech, Scott talked about the country’s history of racism from a historical and personal perspective. “When America comes together, we’ve made tremendous progress. But powerful forces want to pull us apart. A hundred years ago, kids in classrooms were taught the color of their skin was their most important characteristic. And if they looked a certain way, they were inferior.” Scott noted that he has “experienced the pain of discrimination” and has been subject to racist attacks from the Left, from being called an “Uncle Tom” to the N-word. His point was proven when the Left again attacked him as such.
Even the president, who reiterated the systemic racism narrative in his speech, appeared to give ground to Harris and Scott. “I don’t think America’s racist, but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow [laws], and before that slavery, have had a cost, and we have to deal with it,” Biden told NBC’s TODAY in response to Scott’s comments.
Even if limited in scope and time, it’s good to see a bit of bipartisan agreement here.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
