海角大神

Sen. Tim Scott鈥檚 vivid socks stand out in a sea of black and gray on Capitol Hill, and so do his views on police reform.聽

As the Senate鈥檚 sole Black Republican, he has addressed incredulity about the prevalence of police discrimination,聽聽from the Senate floor 鈥� including being held up by police on Capitol Hill, where senators normally move freely through security checkpoints without showing ID.聽

Yet he also sees law enforcement as a 鈥渘oble鈥� profession. That鈥檚 shaped in part by having watched the sons of his influential youth mentor, a white Chick-fil-A operator, become police officers. And as someone raised by a single mother, whose safety he worried about as she would return home late at night from work, Senator Scott places a premium on safeguarding communities. He opposes defunding the police, with liberal activists who didn鈥檛 grow up in poor minority communities like his.

The senator from South Carolina, the grandson of an illiterate cotton picker who in 2014 became the first African American elected from the South to the U.S. Senate, has been frank about racial issues. He called out former President Donald Trump on numerous occasions 鈥� and won his support for spurring $75 billion worth of investment in low-income 鈥�.鈥� Yet he has also decried the political weaponization of race and聽聽that America is not a racist country, prompting critics to call him an 鈥淯ncle Tim鈥� or 鈥渉ouse Negro.鈥澛�

Last year, Senate Democrats blocked his police reform聽聽in the wake of George Floyd鈥檚 murder, saying it didn鈥檛 go far enough. In recent months, Senator Scott and Sen. Cory Booker聽of New Jersey, a Democrat, have been working on new police reform legislation. They agreed to a聽聽for police reform in June, together with Democratic Rep. Karen Bass, who spearheaded passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the House earlier this year. The senators are still chipping away at the details of their聽.

Senator Scott sat down with the Monitor in hot pink socks to discuss his vision for police reform and justice in America at a time of national reckoning 鈥� or, as he puts it, a national 鈥渨ave of opportunity.鈥澛�

The questions and answers that follow have been condensed, and lightly edited for clarity.聽

What has given you empathy for police officers?

This really is not only a noble profession when done right; it鈥檚 also a mission.聽

When I was a senior in high school, I fell asleep driving my car down Interstate 26, flipped over, and went through the windshield. I remember lying on the side of the road, and a highway patrolman walked up to me to give me a little comfort and tell me things were going to be OK. That sticks in my mind 鈥� the power of an officer鈥檚 ability to do good, to show empathy in really hard times.聽

And then I鈥檓 also educated and informed by the number of traffic stops I've been involved in where I'm just driving while Black. So, I have to weigh all that information through a filter of honesty and try to come up with solutions that address the issue fairly.

On a personal level, how have you worked through the anger and humiliation that many would feel in the face of police discrimination, in a way that doesn鈥檛 seem to have tainted your view of America?

What I shared on the [Senate] floor was a lifetime of really bad experiences. And at the same time I think having perspective about it all is really important. I don't know that you can actually just put your sense of humiliation and disrespect in a corner and it doesn't filter in. ... But you can have some really negative interactions and come to the conclusion that stereotyping them all is kind of like them stereotyping me.

I remember talking at the National Action Network run by Rev. [Al] Sharpton about being followed around a clothing store by this young lady. I have good peripheral vision because I used to be a running back, and I see her coming and I thought she was maybe someone who wanted to take a picture. (I was a senator at this time.) She was actually just making sure I wasn鈥檛 stealing anything.聽

I said, 鈥淗ow many of y鈥檃ll understand that?鈥� They were all frustrated; you could feel the temperature going up. I said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 exactly how a Republican feels when you walk into a room like this, because everybody鈥檚 stereotyping,鈥� and they were like, 鈥淥h, you got us.鈥澛�

We should all understand the sting of being stereotyped. So if I don鈥檛 want to stereotype, if I don鈥檛 want Black people to be stereotyped, and if I don鈥檛 want Republicans to be stereotyped, why would I stereotype all cops? It鈥檚 just unhelpful.

How do you think we as a country can achieve real justice, and do forgiveness and reconciliation play a role?

It's a good question. I will say that you cannot wait until you have justice to have forgiveness. I think about Charleston鈥檚 Mother Emanuel church shooting [in 2015] 鈥� 36 hours later, there was no justice ... but those nine family representatives all said [to the shooter], 鈥淲e forgive you.鈥澛�

The path to justice does require reconciliation, but not one party to the other, but within one鈥檚 own heart.聽

The聽justice system that we have here in America becoming more fair is really important.聽And that means being able to have self-awareness as a country. George Floyd brought that to us in a way that nothing else has in my lifetime. You heard and felt and sensed that people understood that the inconsistent application of our justice system leads to real dysfunction amongst our people.

In your book 鈥淥pportunity Knocks,鈥� you talk about wanting to positively impact a billion people with a message of hope and opportunity. That鈥檚 obviously far more people than live in the United States. Do you see your work on police reform as helping not only our American family, as you call it, but also our global family?

Forgive me for being naive, but I do think who we are as Americans sets the pace for the rest of the world. I want to make sure that we export the best of who we are, for the rest of the world to see, and that includes our justice system.

What does it say when you can measure the outcomes by the color of your skin? It says something bad, or at least insidious.

To the extent that we鈥檙e able to improve the overall effectiveness of our justice system is to improve the overall fairness of our justice system. I feel like I鈥檓 called to that.

I want a fair justice system, but not one that seeks to discriminate against somebody else for the discrimination of the past. ... That鈥檚 not fair either.聽

Speaking of feeling called, you considered going into the ministry at least twice, yet felt led to stick with politics. At this time of national reckoning, do you see yourself as ministering to a need for healing in our country?

I hope so. I have been intentional about that part. ... I want to be a bridge builder among the races. I've always felt that was part of my calling as well.聽

From my vantage point, healing is an individual thing, more than a group thing. I do think sometimes we want an apology, especially on the racial front, for healing to begin. I think that鈥檚 probably not as helpful as we think it is. I think what鈥檚 helpful is for us to change the future, not the past.