Black Republican Tackles Police 'Trust Gap'
So when Scott stood on the Senate floor to declare and decry a "trust gap" between law enforcement officers and black communities, he was worth hearing.
"Please remember that, in the course of one year, I've been stopped seven times by law enforcement officers," Scott declared in the widely covered and retweeted speech. "Not four, not five, not six but seven times in one year as an elected official.
"Was I speeding sometimes? Sure. But the vast majority of the time, I was pulled over for nothing more than driving a new car in the wrong neighborhood or some other reason just as trivial.
"I do not know many African-American men who do not have a very similar story to tell," said Scott, "no matter the profession, no matter their income, no matter their disposition in life."
A young former staffer of Scott's grew so frustrated over being stopped by District of Columbia police, the senator said, that he replaced the car with "a more obscure form of transportation. He was tired of being targeted."
"There is absolutely nothing more frustrating, more damaging to your soul," said Scott, "than when you know you're following the rules and being treated like you are not."
On that note, Scott asked for nothing in his speech, except empathy, a sincere effort to understand what others are going through -- which in itself is asking a lot from some people.
"Today," he said, "I simply ask you this: Recognize that just because you do not feel the pain, the anguish of another, does not mean that it does not exist. To ignore their struggles, our struggles, does not make them disappear. It simply leaves you blind and the American family very vulnerable."
Well said. Folks who respond to complaints of racial discrimination by police by bringing up black-on-black crime need to hear what Tim Scott is trying to tell them. Fighting crime without fighting police misconduct leads to more crime. We need to get rid of both.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@tribune.com.)
(c) 2016 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
