(ThyBlackMan.com) Last weekend I was at home cooking myself a BEAUTIFUL dinner (in my best Trump voice). Ba-lieve me, my dinners are the most beautiful dinners; but I digress.
While cooking, I thought about Senator Tim Scott, Republican Senator from South Carolina. I have known him for many, many years and consider him to be a friend and a very dedicated public servant.
When the thought popped into my head about him not believing in diversity, I decided I should run to my keyboard and start writing.
He truly doesn’t believe in diversity. He lives diversity! He is diversity!!
When you walk into his senate office you see the United Nations. Not only does his office personify diversity, but his staff is recognized annually by me and others as one of the best staffs in all of Congress for their professionalism, responsiveness and effectiveness.
When your girlfriend asks you, “Do you believe I love you;” or a basketball player asks his coach, “Do you believe I am a good player;” that’s not usually a good sign.
Implicit in their question is the presence of doubt and the need for some type of reassurance.
Juxtapose that with the boyfriend who shows his girlfriend by his actions and words that he loves and respects her or the coach who keeps his player in the game when victory is on the line.
The boyfriend doesn’t believe he loves his girlfriend, he knows it and everything in his daily life is a reflection of that. Likewise for the basketball coach. He knows he can count on his player to come through for him and the team when the game is on the line because he has shown it in the past. The coach knows he is a good player.
Belief is predicated on some degree of faith in the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).
You don’t believe in something you know because what you know is a part of who you are and is reflected in everything you do! This knowledge comes from some type of personal experience.
We often say in politics that personnel is policy. By this definition Scott’s personnel speaks diversity.
That’s why when he announces his presidential campaign in the next few months, he will force the issue into the Republican primary campaign. His former long-time chief of staff, Jennifer DeCasper will be front and center in the decision-making loop of the campaign.
DeCasper was Scott’s long-time chief of staff in the U.S. Senate until recently and one of the few Black females to ever occupy such a position on Capitol Hill. She is not only one of the nicest people in the world, but also one of the sharpest political and policy minds in the U.S.
I would be stunned if any of the other potential Republican presidential candidates have any Blacks on their staffs in decision-making positions. By decision-making I mean someone who has the ability to spend money or get a meeting or event on the candidate’s schedule.
If you are not in the 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. senior staff meetings then you are not a decision-maker. These meetings are where all the decisions are made.
Here we are in 2023 and Republicans are still looking like the 1950s when it comes to Blacks.
We just celebrated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s national holiday last month and are currently celebrating Black History Month. Did you hear or see anything of substance coming from the Republican Party?
Where were the Republican National Committee (RNC), the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the National Republican Congressional Committee (NCCC), the House and Senate leadership?
What Blacks do former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley have around her? Where are the Blacks in former Congressman Mike Pompeo’s orbit? How about former Vice President Mike Pence, current South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, etc., etc., etc?
America is becoming more diverse, but campaign staffs continue to remain lily white. Hmmmm?
Conservatives see homosexuals, women, military veterans, Hispanics; they see everything but Black.
Tim Scott’s mere presence on the presidential stage is going to force conservatives to talk about issues of particular concern to the Black community.
I challenge my readers to find me any evidence of these conservative wannabe potential presidential candidates ever giving a major policy speech on Black entrepreneurship, Africa and it’s geo-political importance to the U.S. vis-à-vis China, or the role of the military in creating a large Black middleclass; all from a conservative perspective.
You will not find any evidence because it does not exist. Conservatives constantly miss the opportunity to engage with the Black community on substantive issues that are good for all of America.
Tim Scott can and will force these issues to be front and center without being the “Black” candidate. His issues will be American issues constructed from his experience as a Black man in America.
Most people will not understand this nuance. This is the value of “real” diversity; not the radical liberal view of forced diversity, which is a gross perversion of everything Dr. King stood for!
Staff Writer; Raynard Jackson
This talented brother is a Pulitzer Award nominated columnist and founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party. BAFBF focuses on the Black entrepreneur. For more information about BAFBF, visit www.bafbf.org. You can follow Raynard on Twitter; RealRaynardJ; on Gettr: RaynardJackson.
Can also drop him an email at; RaynardJ@ThyBlackMan.com.