On Sunday, May 26, U.S. Senator Tim Scott appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. During the show, Scott took issue with an ad from President Joe Biden geared toward Black voters. As the South Carolina Senator puts it, “we were better off” under Donald Trump.
“There are two things that are driving Black votes back to Donald Trump: jobs and justice. No. 1, under Donald Trump, our wages were going up. Right now, fairness is going down,” Scott said.
As the conversation unfolded, Scott continued to criticize the President, referencing comments he made in 1977 about desegregation.
“But if you’re really concerned about racial justice in America, let’s not forget, Joe Biden is the guy that talked about ‘racial jungles’ as a result of desegregation,” Scott said.
The Senator also took issue with comments Biden made in 2020 while talking to The Breakfast Club.
“Let’s not forget the fact that Joe Biden is the president who said, ‘If you don’t vote for me, you can’t be Black.’ … An old white dude telling me I can’t be Black if I don’t vote for him? This is the president who said … the Republican Party wants to put you back in chains,” he continued.
Ultimately, Scott accused the President of supporting segregation.
“The only person I have seen restraining Black folks economically is the Joe Biden economy. So, I find it quite insulting to suggest that Joe Biden does not have serious concerns, when his own vice president, Kamala Harris, said he supported segregation,” Scott added.
“Joe Biden’s Department of Education which has halted the growth of charter schools that provide greater diversity.”
Eventually, State of the Union Host Dana Bash pushed back against, saying Scott’s claim of Biden supporting segregation is a “little too far.” Supporting research shows federal government grants through the Charter Schools Program have remained at $440 million since 2019. Furthermore, a study conducted by sociologists at Stanford and USC has found that segregation has been rising over the last 30 years. Contrary to Scott’s claims, the study found that one of the many possible reasons for this rise has been charter schools.
“Analyzing data from U.S. public schools going back to 1967, the researchers found that segregation between white and Black students has increased by 64 percent since 1988 in the 100 largest districts, and segregation by economic status has increased by about 50 percent since 1991. The report also provides new evidence about the forces driving recent trends in school segregation, showing that the expansion of charter schools has played a major role,” Stanford’s Carrie Spector writes.
