Scott’s politics refreshing
What a strange tale is told by Professor Adolph Reed (“Blacks and the GOP,” Dec. 20) in his piece about newly appointed Sen. Tim Scott, an African-American.
Scott is outside the black mainstream, and his ideas are at odds with the preferences of most black Americans because Scott is “anti-tax, anti-union and anti-abortion.”
Why would Reed think that blacks are pro-tax? Has Reed visited a black church recently to find out how blacks feel about abortion? Where is the evidence that blacks are pro-union?
As for Reed’s second point, that black politicians such as Scott are outside “mainstream black politics,” why would a political science professor think that a member of Congress is supposed to represent the “mainstream ideas” of one’s race? Would he be comfortable with a white senator stating that he would advocate the programs favoring “mainstream white policies”?
Aren’t senators supposed to represent their constituents, instead of their race or gender?
The idea that there are “black policies” and trends in “black mainstream politics” is little more than racial stereotyping. Reed should be celebrating the diverse ideas and policies embraced by black politicians, not blaming ones who refuse to toe the line of something he calls “black interests.”
Mark E. Sullivan, Raleigh
