Scott speaks of unity, opportunity

U.S. Senator Tim Scott told attendees of the West Spartanburg NAACP’s annual Freedom Fund Banquet at USC Upstate that he believes the gap between Democrats and Republicans is not as wide as it is often thought to be.

“Every piece of legislation that I get passed, I have someone on the other side working with me,” Scott said, citing the bank reform, HBCU and opportunity zone legislation he’s worked on. “If you’re willing to present those solutions, you’ll find middle ground, common ground. You won’t have to give up your morals to find (it).”

During his talk, Scott emphasized the importance of unity, education and opportunity.

“We are seeing things that were impossible 10 years ago, become possible today,” Scott said. “And if we are willing to remember Ephesians 3:20-21 and put our faith more in the King of Kings than we do in presidents or chancellors or prime ministers, we will see the kind of revival and a renaissance this country has never seen before.”

Scott spent some time explaining the opportunity zone legislation he created, a piece of cross-party legislation that gives tax credits to developers who choose to build in designated low-income or underdeveloped areas. He argued that the program was not only of benefit to wealthy developers, but was available to anyone with capital and was bringing business and opportunity into communities.

“We are having a ton of engagement from African-Americans,” Scott said. 

Rev. Eddie Parks, president of West Spartanburg NAACP, said he chose to invite Scott to speak at the annual event because he and others feel that there’s a great divide in country.

“We wanted to reach out to the senator,” Parks said. “We feel like the country’s falling apart. We’re separate, we’re divided, and we understand that from the words of our Lord, ‘A house divided cannot stand.’ We can disagree on things and not be enemies and not hate each other.”

Scott answered a number of questions from the event’s attendees, from inquiries about term limits, which he supports, to bringing children’s groups to the White House.

“If you call tomorrow, we can get you in by Christmas,” Scott said to a woman who said she had been trying for some time to schedule a visit for her youth group with Sen. Lindsay Graham. Scott also said he’d come to speak at Wade Hampton High School next year when a student asked.

Scott did not speak on the ongoing impeachment inquiry. In response to a question about how he reconciled being an African-American with the views of his party and President Trump, he said it depended on the view and that when he disagrees with one of the president’s statements, he speaks out against it.

“When I find things offensive, I will speak out because I am who I am and will not pretend to be anyone else,” Scott said. 

In closing, Scott said he was inspired by the open-mindedness of the youth in the audience.

“I’m the guy who believes that the nation’s best days are still ahead of her,” Scott said. “That rancor and challenges that we see pales in comparison to the things that we have if we’re willing to be one single American family — and not everybody’s willing to be one single American family — but for those of us that are, the doors of opportunity are going to swing wide open.”