To
drive
that
discussion,
U.S.
Sen.
Tim
Scott,
R-North
Charleston,
and
U.S.
Rep.
Trey
Gowdy,
R-Spartanburg,
invited
S.C.
faith
and
law
enforcement
leaders
to
a
roundtable
discussion
Wednesday.
About
15
took
part
at
Brookland
Baptist
Church
with
Scott
and
Gowdy.
The
discussion
was
closed
to
the
press
to
encourage
guests
to
speak
openly
about
their
experiences,
Scott
and
Gowdy’s
offices
said.
In
an
interview
with
The
State
afterward,
Scott
said
he
and
Gowdy
came
up
with
the
idea
while
sharing
meals
in
Washington,
when
the
two
friends
hash
out
difficult
issues.
A
former
prosecutor,
Gowdy
said
he
comes
from
a
law-
enforcement
background
but
needs
to
understand
Scott’s
“perspective
as
someone
who
has
had
interaction
with
law
enforcement
that
I've
never
had."
Last
month,
Scott
spoke
on
the
U.S.
Senate
floor
about
being
racially
profiled
by
police
officers,
including
on
Capitol
Hill,
where
he
is
one
of
two
black
U.S.
senators.
“I
have
felt
the
anger,
the
frustration,
the
sadness,
and
the
humiliation
that
comes
with
feeling
like
you’re
being
targeted
for
nothing
more
than
being
just
yourself,”
he
said
on
the
Senate
floor,
adding
many
African-American
men
have
similar
stories
to
tell.
On
Wednesday,
Scott
said
the
“strongest
echoes”
of
his
experience
of
being
racially
profiled
came
from
African-American
law
enforcement
officers
who
attended
the
roundtable
discussion.
The
officers
talked
about
experiences
they
had
as
black
citizens
–
not
as
officers,
Scott
said.
The
meeting’s
goal
was
not
to
get
input
for
legislative
proposals
–
both
lawmakers
said
racial
tensions
between
the
justice
system
and
minority
communities
cannot
be
fixed
through
legislation.
You
can
read
entire
article
HERE.