(ThyBlackMan.com) I was once told by the Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world around him; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
These are the words that came to mind when I began to write this column about my good friend, Scott Bessent.
Without question, Scott Bessent is one of the most unreasonable people I know in politics.
Who is Scott Bessent you might be wondering? Let me tell you.
He is one of the most successful money managers on Wall Street. He served as George Soros’ chief investment officer (CIO) for nearly 15 years. Soros Asset Management is considered one of the most successful hedge funds in history.
In 2016 he founded Key Square Capital Management. Bessent is widely acknowledged to be one of the world’s most respected macro hedge fund managers in the world.
Bessent has been involved in some of the most legendary deals ever made on Wall Street. He was one of the key figures on the Soros team that helped the Quantum Fund make $ 1 billion by shorting sterling ahead of the UK’s withdrawal from the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM).
The Wall Street Journal dubbed him as “The Man Who Broke the Bank of Japan.” The deal made him about $ 3.5 billion on the Abenomics trade from 2012-2015.
Bessent is one of former president Donald Trump’s top economic advisors. Once we elect Trump as president next month, many in the Black community are hoping that Bessent will become the next Treasury Secretary!
He was born in Conway, South Carolina. Though he did not come from a wealthy family, he was able to attend and graduate from Yale University where he went back as an adjunct professor for many years.
With this backdrop, let me explain why I think Scott is so unreasonable.
Most of my followers know that I grew up in the hood of St. Louis and graduated from Oral Roberts University. I did not come from a wealthy family but have been blessed to have a rich life.
Coming from the hood of St. Louis, how is it possible for me to be able to call someone like Scott Bessent a friend?
He is a white guy, I am Black. He is from the deep South. I am from the Midwest. He is wealthy, I am successful.
I am reminded of one of my favorite Bible verses from Psalm 8:4, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Who am I that someone like Scott Bessent introduces me to his wealthy circle as “a good friend of mine?”
Why is he so interested in helping Black entrepreneurs become more successful?
I began my political journey as a Democrat. Scott, a lifelong Republican, in 2000 he briefly flirted with the Democratic Party for a year but quickly returned to the Republican Party. He is fond of saying, “I didn’t leave the Democrat Party, the Democrat Party left me.”
I think because Bessent grew up in the deep South, he is extremely comfortable engaging with the Black community, especially entrepreneurs.
In May, he participated in a major conference I put together in Washington, DC. I had 200 of the top Black, Asian, Indian, and Hispanic entrepreneurs in the U.S. in attendance.
We had three billionaires participate, Scott being one of them. He did not simply give his speech and leave; he stayed for almost 12 hours chatting with everyone in the room. Click on this link to see the conference.
Scott is so unreasonable to think that the Black businessman can be a key building block in getting more Blacks involved the Republican Party. He has taken this message to the highest levels of the Trump campaign and the Republican Party.
You will begin to see the fruits of our labor very publicly this month.
The reasonable man in the Republican Party and their white consultants say ignore the Black community; they won’t vote for the Republicans. The unreasonable man, like Scott Bessent says but they will vote for Donald Trump.
Why?
If the Black businessman votes for Trump, they will have the most pro-small, minority business president in the history of our country.
If the Black businessman votes for Trump, they will have regular access and input with all of Trumps key economic advisors.
In this regard, Scott Bessent can be the Jack Kemp of Black entrepreneurship!!!
Jack Kemp was a very dear friend of mine who died in 2009. He was a retired N.F.L. quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, a former U.S.
Congressman representing Buffalo and served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for President George H.W. Bush.
Kemp spent his whole life working in the Black community. When the Rodney King riots broke out in Los Angeles in 1992, then President Bush sent Kemp to work with Hall of Fame footballer and Black icon, Jim Brown to quell the violence.
Kemp, as a white Republican, had more credibility with the Black community than a sitting president of the United States!
In a similar manner, Scott is slowly building the same type of credibility in the Black business community.
Once Trump is back in the white house, hopefully Scott Bessent will become one of the president’s top economic advisors; he can also be an invaluable bridge to the Black and minority business community.
I know Scott would relish these roles and that is why I consider him one of the most unreasonable people I know in politics.
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.
