Sen. Tim Scott And The Embarrassing Black Conservatives Who Ignore Racism

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) spoke of his newly announced presidential run Monday on "The View" on ABC.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) hopped in the 2024 presidential race Monday with a campaign speech in his hometown of North Charleston, South Carolina. 

Scott employed language similar to every other Black evangelical politician: “Victimhood or victory? I choose freedom, hope and opportunity.” “I disrupt their narrative.” And more language suggested that he refuses to be defined by his Blackness.

In his most attention-grabbing comments, Scott diminished the existence of racism to what appears to be a largely white audience.

“For those of you who wonder if America is a racist country, take a look… at how all of God’s people come together… because unconditional love binds hearts together,” Scott said. “We are not defined by the color of our skin; we’re defined by the content of our character. If anyone tells you anything different, they’re a-lyin’!”

Scott doubled down on this inherently flawed idea as a guest on Monday’s episode of ”The View,” suggesting that the American playing field is level because Black folks have achieved high-level jobs within the U.S. government and elsewhere (though the audience reserved their boos for when he regurgitated the asinine suggestion of his competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, that Disney is “indoctrinating” children with evil LGBTQ propaganda.)  

Most sensible Black folks see through this bullshit like a Ziploc bag. For the woefully uninitiated, however, I’ll put the snark on hold, just for a second: Racism is forever. And it’s everywhere, including America. That no one is dragging Black folks by their noosed necks behind moving cars in the open anymore doesn’t suggest it’s completely nonexistent in all its forms.

Look no further than the 2016 election of Donald Trump, which galvanized the tiki-torch protesters and U.S. Capitol insurrectionists to say all the quiet parts very loudly in a manner I hadn’t seen before in my life. Having working eyes and ears and suggesting that racism is a thing of the past is like passing the third grade convinced that the Earth is flat.  

Yet, Scott is just one of several charisma-free, cookie-cutter conservative House Negroes propagating the notion that Black folks bucking up and letting go of that pesky racism issue that apparently hasn’t been an issue since the mid-20th century is the true anodyne for all our problems. When these clowns vie for their respective political thrones, it’s almost always on the back of Black Democrats whom they insist are playing the “race card” as victims.  

In 2004, Alan Keyes was installed by Illinois Republicans as a carpetbagger to challenge Barack Obama for the state’s U.S. Senate seat. An avowed evangelical Christian staunchly opposed to affirmative action and abortion, Keyes was curb-stomped by a young Obama during his unprecedented ascendancy. Keyes was a puppet for white Republicans, and everyone saw through him.   

Despite his failed presidential bid, the late Herman Cain made his millions by slinging Godfather’s Pizza and having a keen business and investment acumen. Though Cain made it a point to let everyone know that he got out of the mud all on his own despite having been born a Black man in the 1940s Deep South, his Black ass most assuredly benefited from affirmative action. May he rest in peace and all that. 

Larry Elder, the patron saint of Black conservatives, has spent his decades-long radio career espousing the virtues of being a sellout. He even created a self-aggrandizing documentary, 2020’s ”Uncle Tom,” in the hope that people listening to all his buddies talk about how cool it is to be a Black conservative might influence more people to vote for Trump again. 

Elder tried to take California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s seat in a 2021 recall election. He’s running now for president in 2024, at which he’ll also fail. 

I know I must include Herschel Walker in my polemic, since he was the loudest Black Republican candidate before Scott to downplay racism. But I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen such an obvious Uncle Ruckus-shaped pawn in my life, so despite the eye-wateringly amazing progress he made in last year’s Georgia Senate race before losing to Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock, I never took Walker to be a serious human.

These morons all have one thing in common: When it’s time to get elected, the white Republicans they courted drop them like used napkins and the Democrat they challenged ultimately gets the office.

(Perhaps the only exception to this rule is almost the most dangerous: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, has the power to constitutionally send America back to the late 1800s. All while being openly financially shady.)

Outside of politics, there’s a gaggle of sellouts who, despite being born and raised to two Black parents in the 20th century, have built sizable social media followings spewing “post-racial” rhetoric so absurd that I’m unconvinced that most of them actually believe their own hype.  

Candace Owens is not a stupid woman ― I don’t believe she’s achieved the success she has in her mid-30s while lacking a fundamental understanding of the limitations society will always attempt to heap upon a dark-skinned Black woman. She’s simply riding the white supremacist wave to secure a bag, which makes her worse than the nakedly racist white people we expect it from.

For my bread, the image of Owens and her buddy Ye ― who, despite being a wildly successful billionaire, still longs for white acceptance – draped in “White Lives Matter” T-shirts last year is far more disgusting than a bunch of white incels hoisting tiki-torches.

I agree that Black people shouldn’t embrace victimhood as a crutch to keep us from achieving the goals we desire. But there’s a wide chasm between rejecting victimhood and suggesting that racism died with Jim Crow, or that we’re “post-racial” because we elected a Black man to the White House in 2008.

Racism is not our utter inability to accomplish the goals of our white counterparts. It’s our need to work a bit harder to do so. To be more agreeable and palatable. To go the extra mile to prove that we belong in spaces in which we’re not traditionally expected… spaces in which we literally weren’t allowed at a time when our parents walked the Earth. 

Recognizing the perpetual existence of systemic racism and working to mitigate its effects should be part of every human’s social contract ― even for those who benefit from it.

Even if Trump manages to stay out of prison, Scott won’t come within spitting distance of the Republican nomination in a race that includes Ron DeSantis. But as he goes through the process, he’ll learn just how squeaky-clean his closet must be to even be considered for the Oval Office as a Black man… a lesson Obama had to learn before him. 

Scott will be forced to compare his experience with all the ridiculous shit that Trump did, only to get elected anyway. Then perhaps he’ll finally understand racism.

CORRECTION: A prior version of this story referred to the incorrect President Bush in one instance.