U.S. Senator and Republican 2024 presidential hopeful Tim Scott speaks during his Fair Side Chat at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 15, 2023. | Source: STEFANI REYNOLDS / Getty
Here’s a simple truth: White conservatives love Black conservatives because Black conservatives say all white people-friendly things. There’s really no other reason. There’s never any kind of policy or ideological point of view Black Republican officials and candidates hold that sets them apart from the rest of the GOP. They’re always very generic in terms of that. As much as they love to consider themselves “free thinkers” because they vote and view racism differently than most Black people, there’s never anything original about how they think.
Not long ago, “free thinkers” Jason Whitlock and Larry Elder sat down together so Whitlock could talk about how he’s “not a conservative” but a “MAGA guy”—which means he’s a so-called non-conservative who just happens to share every single popular right-wing viewpoint—while Elder erroneously claimed he was blackballed from the first GOP primary debate for, well, sharing literally every popular GOP talking point.
THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT SPECIAL OR EVEN REMOTELY UNIQUE!! But white people sure love them.
Anyway, let’s talk about Tim Scott.
Recently, the only Black Republican presidential hopeful, and South Carolina’s only Black senator, spoke in Iowa and told a crowd of Black friend-needy Caucasians that he essentially doesn’t see color—a closeted racist’s favorite affirmation.
From the Associated Press:
“We don’t have Black poverty or white poverty. We have poverty,” he told an all-white audience Thursday in Oskaloosa after being asked about race. He earlier had spoken about his poor Southern upbringing and his late grandfather, born into Jim Crow-era South Carolina.
“The brilliance of this nation is that we keep moving forward, even though there are lots of forces who want us to think the problem is that someone doesn’t look like you,” Scott said.
It’s amazing the way a Black conservative can invoke Jim Crow America out of one side of his face while repeatedly claiming “America is not a racist country” out of the other. But what else should one expect from the guy who doesn’t think racism in America is real but has compared the treatment of Republicans to racism? But, again, his message isn’t for us, it’s for the white conservatives who love to hear white nationalism come from Black mouths. And they’re receiving that message loud and clear.
More from AP:
Scott has been criticized by scholars who say his rejection of systemic racism, especially in light of the recent racist killings in Florida, plays down larger social and political obstacles facing African Americans.
But dozens of Iowa Republicans interviewed over the past several months say his position, common in the 2024 GOP field, resonates more coming from Scott than from others.
“It definitely means more from him,” said Mary Rozenboom, a 77-year-old retired hospital employee from Oskaloosa who is white. “He’s saying, ‘This is me. I’m Black. But I succeeded because I worked hard, and those opportunities remain in America.’”
You see what I’m talking about? Here’s a 77-year-old white woman—old enough to remember Jim Crow as clearly as she remembers what high school she went to—and it’s still important to her to have a Black person validate her delusions about her beloved America not being founded and maintained on a culture of racism.
Also, here’s a fact: There are plenty of successful Black people who know that racism is still alive and well in America. In fact, most Black people aren’t arguing that systemic racism completely prevents Black people from becoming successful. We simply argue that it’s a hindrance and a roadblock white people don’t encounter.
Here’s another fact: Virtually every study, poll and survey on what Americans think about race shows that the vast majority of Black people—regardless of class, education and level of success—believe racism is still a major problem in America. This means white conservatives like Rozenboom are dismissing the testimonies and lived experiences of millions of Black people across America in favor of the relatively few who are saying the things they want to be said.
More from AP:
Among voters for Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections, just 18% said racism is a very serious problem in U.S. society, compared with 61% of voters for Democratic candidates, according to AP VoteCast data.
“He’s a Black man who rejects the idea of systemic racism, which is very popular in Republican circles,” said Christine Matthews, a national political pollster who has worked for Republican candidates. “It absolutely resonates more.”
The GOP needs people like Tim Scott because Republicans are tired of being known as the “old white party” while refusing to let go of their old white ideology. They want to have their cake and eat it too, and for that, they need the Black conservatives to serve the table they so desperately want a seat at.
It really is that simple.
SEE ALSO:
Why Isn’t Tim Scott Married? Republican Donors Reportedly Want To Know
Amid Trump Indictment, Tim Scott Blames Biden For ‘Targeting And Hunting’ Republicans
