“The View” co-host Joy Behar apparently believes Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) needs a lesson on systemic racism.
On Tuesday, Behar decided to go off about how Scott, who is Black and grew up in poverty in a single-parent household in South Carolina, does not understand systemic racism.
“[Scott’s] one of these guys like Clarence Thomas — Black Republican — who believes in pulling yourself [up] by your bootstraps,” she claimed.
The co-host went on, “Rather than… understanding the systemic racism that African Americans face in this country — and other minorities.”
“He doesn’t get it. Neither does Clarence [Thomas]. And that’s why they’re Republicans,” Behar added.
Watch the video below:
White woman Joy Behar declares that Justice Clarence Thomas and Sen. Tim Scott have no clue what it's like to be a black man in America.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) May 23, 2023
"[They believe] in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, rather than understanding the racism that African Americans face in this country." pic.twitter.com/zIFFge8YrV
Her comments came after Scott announced his presidential bid on Monday and said the United States is the “land of opportunity,” and not the “land of oppression.”
Behar has probably experienced barriers and discrimination as a woman, but likely not racism. And the sheer arrogance and condescension of her claim are astounding.
So, please, white liberal woman in New York City, go on to explain racism to a man who was born a year after the Civil Rights Act was passed when racism was very much alive.
As Brookings notes, in 1964, just 18% of white people said they had a friend who was Black. Meanwhile, a few years earlier in 1958, 44% of Americans said they would move if a Black family became their neighbors.
Surely, Scott never experienced an example of what we would today call systemic racism growing up — sarcasm intended.
Also, the jab about him believing in people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps is bizarre. When Scott speaks about America as the land of opportunity, it is not abstract to him. He lived it.
And it is not as though Scott was born into an already wealthy Black family with a silver spoon in his mouth that paved the way for him to coast to where he is today.
Now, the U.S. is not perfect, there will always be more work to do as we strive to be a more perfect union. But Scott is sharing his story and his experiences.
While they run contrary to the Left’s preferred narrative that the country is inherently racist, it does not mean his views and his experiences are any less valid.
The decision to lecture a successful Black politician about what life is really like for Black people — as a white person — is just plain arrogant, and a sign of blind devotion to one’s beliefs.
