Star Parker: Tim Scott’s Important Message

Juneteenth, now a national holiday, commemorates June 19, 1865, the date the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enacted in the state of Texas. This is considered the official end of slavery in the United States.

Scott’s event, which was attended by a list of major Republican donors and which I also had the privilege of attending, was called the Great Opportunity Policy Summit.

The announcement comes after Scott’s Great Opportunity PAC announced plans to spend $14 million on outreach to black and Hispanic Americans ahead of the presidential election.

The centerpiece of Scott’s message about American opportunity has always been himself.

Her birth into a poor Southern home to a single mother. In other words, being born into circumstances that so many people believe define exactly the circumstances that make success impossible.

Black, poor, fatherless. In a country that is supposedly racist.

But Scott’s essential message is that America is not about racism but about opportunity.

Does this mean there are no racists in America? Of course not. But there are sinners of all kinds in our country.

Scott tells Black Americans, and all Americans, that you are not defined by others. Others do not define your personal destiny. You make.

And he’s running to show that being black, much less being born black and poor to a single mother, is not a recipe for failure. Despite being born into difficult circumstances, he’s now a United States senator and running for the highest office in the land.

It is also important to note that Scott is a humble man. He doesn’t say he’s successful because he’s so special. What is special, according to him, is our country and the values ​​that allow an ordinary man to succeed in the worst circumstances.

The essence of Scott’s message was conveyed by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, which was later used by President John F. Kennedy in a speech to the Irish Parliament, and then by Robert F. Kennedy during his 1968 presidential campaign .

“You see things as they are and you ask yourself, ‘Why?’ » I dream of things that never existed and I ask, “Why not?”

A more prosaic version says that some people see the glass as half full and others as half empty.

Of course, it is in the nature of things that we always have to work to improve things.

So even though America is a free country and anyone with character, determination and the right values ​​can make it, things can always be improved.

Thus, Scott’s Opportunity Policy program targets institutional improvements that can be made in the country to make the path to success even smoother and more accessible.

He advocates giving parents choice and control over where to send their child to school.

And he supports the Opportunity Zone program, which provides tax incentives for business investments in our nation’s most distressed ZIP codes.

There is no freedom without law, which is why Scott supports strong law enforcement, both in our cities and at our border.

Black Americans are succeeding in America. Twenty-two percent of blacks earn more than $100,000 a year, and 33 percent earn more than $75,000.

Scott’s essential message to all Americans, regardless of background, is that we are in a land of opportunity.

Taking advantage of it means taking responsibility for your life.

The more individuals take control of their personal destiny, the less they believe that others control their lives, the greater our country will become.