Black Senator Makes History; First To Be Elected In South After Reconstruction

Senator Tim Scott gained victory over his competitor, Joyce Dickerson to become the first Black senator in the South after reconstruction.

South Carolina voters have elected the first Black senator from a southern state since the Reconstruction era, according to The Guardian.

Black senator, Tim Scott had been heavily favored to win the endorsement of voters, after being appointed to the seat in December 2012 on the resignation of Jim DeMint.

He is South Carolina’s first Black senator, and the fifth Black person elected to the Senate.

Democrat Joyce Dickerson and Jill Bossi of the American Party unsuccessfully challenged Scott in the senate race. South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham was also sent back to the Senate, having handily defeated his seat for a third term.

“I think it says a lot about South Carolina and the evolution we have undergone in the last 50 years. If you look for a state with the most progress in the history of this country in the shortest period of time, look at South Carolina. We have a lot to be proud of,” Scott said after he voted on Tuesday morning.

Scott, who was endorsed by Tea Party groups, served as as a congressman for the states 1st district from 2011 to 2013. He was a member of the Charleston County council for 13 years before that.

The first Black senator in the US, Mississippi Republican Hiram Rhodes Revels, was sworn in in February 1870. Some southern Democrats attempted to block him from serving by arguing that he had not met the nine-year minimum citizenship requirement because citizenship was not granted to black people before the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868.

Timothy Eugene “Tim” Scott (born September 19, 1965) is the junior United States Senator for South Carolina, Wikipedia states. He joined the Senate in 2013 when South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley named him to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint. Scott ran in a special election in 2014 for the final two years of DeMint’s second term, and won the seat.

In November 2010, Scott was elected to the United States House of Representatives for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district, and served from 2011 to 2013. Scott, a fiscal and cultural conservative, was endorsed for the Senate by Tea Party groups. He served one term in the South Carolina General Assembly (2009–2011); prior to that, he had been on the Charleston County Council from 1996 to 2008.

Along with Democrat Cory Booker of New Jersey, Scott is one of two African Americans serving in the United States Senate. He is the first Black senator from the state of South Carolina, the first black Republican elected to the United States Senate since the election of Edward Brooke in 1966, and the first elected from the South since 1881, four years after the end of Reconstruction.  He is the first Republican African American Congressman from South Carolina since 1897  and since the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He is also the first African American to have been elected to both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate since

Scott was born in North Charleston, South Carolina, to Ben Scott, Sr. and Frances Scott, a nursing assistant. His parents were divorced when he was 7. He grew up in working-class poverty, as his mother worked 16-hour days to support her family, including Tim’s brothers. His older brother is a sergeant major in the U.S. Army.  Scott’s younger brother is an Air Force Colonel.

Scott attended Presbyterian College from 1983 to 1984, on a partial football scholarship. He graduated from Charleston Southern University in 1988 with a B.S. in Political Science.

In addition to his political career, Scott owns an insurance agency, Tim Scott Allstate, and works as a financial adviser.

Now that Scott has won the historic election, he has quite a bit to say about race, News One stated.

My skin color is talked about often. Tonight I want to talk about it for just a moment.

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

In South Carolina, in America, it takes a generation to go from having a grandfather who is picking cotton, to a grandson in Congress.

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

We are thankful for those trailblazers who came before us and said the status quo was not enough. I stand on the shoulders of giants.

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

Our values and our issues are central. The most important things we have to offer are on the inside. This is the testament to progress made

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

I want to speak to the future leaders of America. Don’t let anyone define you but you. You have a responsibility to be yourself. Be proud.

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

God bless you.

— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) November 5, 2014

This is a huge success for the entire Black-Americans and we say hearty congratulations to the first Black senator of the south since reconstruction, Senator Tim Scott. Despite the fact that he was the only Black person to contest in the race, he came out top. It is really a victory worth celebrating; especially in a country like ours where racism has taken its tow on us. It is a sign that the Black person can also attain change in America if he puts his mind to it.