In GOP response to Biden's speech, Sen. Tim Scott describes racist abuse, says 'America is not a racist country'

(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/MSNBC)

published 29 April 2021

In his Republican response to President Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday night, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the only Black Republican in the Senate, spoke personally about the racism he has encountered from all directions. "I have experienced the pain of discrimination," he said. "I know what it feels like to be pulled over for no reason. To be followed around a store while I'm shopping."

Scott said he has "also experienced a different kind of intolerance," from "liberals." "I get called 'Uncle Tom' and the N-word — by 'progressives'!" he said, throwing in some criticism of a Washington Post fact check contextualizing his "cotton to Congress" family origin story. "Believe me, I know our healing is not finished."

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Maybe, in Scott's theory of America, people do racist things but the country that enslaved Black people and quashed their rights for centuries has progressed to a point of post-racism (or even overly aggressive anti-racism). "Original sin is never the end of the story," he said. "Not in our souls, and not for our nation. The real story is always redemption." The story he's referring to did not end with redemption.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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