Tim Scott, Clarence Thomas, and the problem of Democrat racism
Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) run for president should sharpen voter focus on Democratic racism. Scott is black and a conservative, two categories that the horrified Left believes cannot or must not overlap. Democrats hurl the insults “racism” and “racist” at conservatives and their policies. It’s their weapon of choice in political argument, and they reach lazily for it whether they’re debating fiscal policy, medical outcomes, school admissions, or pretty much anything else. They claim racism is pervasive and is, indeed, America’s foundation stone, so the accusation always seems apt to them.
But their own racism is at least as ugly as what you find on the Right. Unlike Right-wing racism, Left-wing racism is not confined to the fringes but has been woven into the fabric of what it means to be a mainstream Democrat. Without it, just to take one obvious example, the displacement of “equality” by “equity” would be impossible.
Black conservatives suffer most from the Left’s racism, as has been brightly highlighted again recently by the latest Democratic attempts to smear Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas has endured a career-long trashing by the Left since 1991 when then-Sen. Joe Biden presided over the “high-tech lynching” that constituted Thomas’s confirmation hearings.
But their own racism is at least as ugly as what you find on the Right. Unlike Right-wing racism, Left-wing racism is not confined to the fringes but has been woven into the fabric of what it means to be a mainstream Democrat. Without it, just to take one obvious example, the displacement of “equality” by “equity” would be impossible.
Black conservatives suffer most from the Left’s racism, as has been brightly highlighted again recently by the latest Democratic attempts to smear Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas has endured a career-long trashing by the Left since 1991 when then-Sen. Joe Biden presided over the “high-tech lynching” that constituted Thomas’s confirmation hearings.
Many millions of ordinary Americans, black or white, will also identify with Scott’s message that it is time to challenge and rid the country of the cult of victimhood championed by President Biden and the Democrats. They will rejoice at Scott’s rejection of the slander that the U.S. is an “evil country.” And they are sick of the Democrats’ “weaponizing race” to achieve power. Scott talks of America as a land of opportunity, not oppression.
His polling numbers now are tiny — no more than rounding errors when compared to those of former President Donald Trump — but many Republicans are likely to be interested as he spreads his message of hope and opportunity for all and demonstrates their truth with the story of his own life.
Republicans would also be delighted to nominate a black man, in part because the drumbeat of Democratic accusations of racism is wearing, even though they are false. No one likes to be called racist, perhaps especially when they know it is a lie. Nominating Scott, if that were to happen, would give Republicans the satisfaction not just of having a champion fit for the White House but also of being able to fling the charge of racism back in their accusers’ faces. ★