Harris: "We Must Speak Truth About the History of Racism in Our Country"

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Last updated on May 1st, 2021 at 10:23 am

Asked to respond to remarks from South Carolina Republican Tim Scott that the United States “is not a racist country,” Vice President Kamala Harris concurred but stressed that the history of racism in the country should be addressed openly.

“No. I don’t think America is a racist country but we also do have to speak truth about the history of racism in our country and its existence today,” Harris said. “I applaud the President for always having the ability and the courage, frankly, to speak the truth about it.”

Reiterating the assessment of national intelligence agencies that white domestic terrorism is “one of the greatest threats to our national security,” Harris said “it does not help to heal our country, to unify us as a people, to ignore the realities of that and I think the President has been outstanding and a real national leader on the issue … We want to unify the country, but not without speaking truth and requiring accountability as appropriate.”

EXCLUSIVE: Vice Pres. Kamala Harris says that she does not think the United States is a "racist country" but that it is important to "speak the truth" about the role racism has played in the nation's history. https://t.co/c8o8A4wX4H pic.twitter.com/NVImgMeVjR

— ABC News (@ABC) April 29, 2021

Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, said in his rebuttal to President Joe Biden‘s address to Congress last night that “America is not a racist country” and characterized any discrimination he has experienced as an attack from left-wing critics.

“I get called ‘Uncle Tom’ and the N-word — by progressives, by liberals,” he said, “Believe me, I know firsthand our healing is not finished.”

He also claimed that institutions of higher education and businesses have profited from stoking racial divisions. “From colleges to corporations to our culture, people are making money and gaining power by pretending we haven’t made any progress at all,” he said.