South Carolina senator Tim Scott delivered a passionate and deeply personal speech on the Senate floor Wednesday to address the strained relationship between the black community and law enforcement. Scott detailed numerous occasions in which he felt he had been unfairly stopped and questioned by police officers, even on Capitol Hill. Scott is one of only two current black senators.
“In the course of one year, I’ve been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers,” Scott said, detailing specifics of the senseless traffic stops that he and other black men he works with are constantly subjected to. “I do not know many African-American men who do not have a very similar story to tell, no matter their profession, no matter their income, no matter their disposition in life.”
Scott recalled an altercation that took place at the capitol last year, when a U.S. Capitol Police officer failed to recognize him after five years of service in the House and Senate. “The officer looked at me with a little attitude and said, ‘The pin, I know. You, I don’t. Show me your ID,'” Scott recalled. Later that evening, Scott received a call from that officer’s supervisor, apologizing for his behavior. “That is at least the third phone call I’ve received from a supervisor, or the chief of police, since I’ve been in the Senate,” Scott said.
“While I thank God I have not endured bodily harm, I have, however, felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted,” Scott declared, “I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness, and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you are being targeted for nothing more than being just yourself.”