Race relations under President Obama have not progressed, according to Sen. Tim Scott.
“I would say that we have probably had a neutral position on progressing from a racial perspective in America over the last few years,” the South Carolina Republican said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation.
“We have not made as much progress as we would like to have seen,” added Scott, the only African-American to be elected to both the House and Senate as well as the firstblack senator from the South since Reconstruction.
“The last six years have been challenging” for African-Americans, he said.
Scott spoke live from Alabama, where he and other lawmakers were commemorating the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma.He said the solemn anniversary drew his attention to issues now facing African-Americans and the middle class, such as the community’s economic security.
“Unemployment rate is near 12 percent overall,” he said. “The poverty rate is near 28 percent. I will tell you that the last six years have not been good for most folks, middle America and down.”
Scott also commented on the Voting Rights Act of 1965, referring to recent Supreme Court decisions regarding the law’s requirement that southern states seek federal approval before changing voting laws.
“What I would support is taking a second view of the Voting Rights Act,” Scott said, “and see how we can apply it universally to all Americans, every place, and let’s judge people and states based on their performance today.”
