(WASHINGTON) — Sixty years after Black Americans gained the right to vote in the United States through the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Sen. Tim Scott on Friday makes history, becoming the longest-serving African American in the 235-year history of the United States Senate. This historic moment will be shared alongside four other African-American senators, making this the largest group of Black senators to ever serve concurrently in the U.S. Capitol, a building constructed with the labor of enslaved Black people.
The previous longest-serving Black senator was the late Republican Sen. Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, who held office from 1967 until 1979. Scott, the first elected Black senator from the South, is the first to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
In his first speech as a freshman senator, Scott said, “I believe in the greatness of America because I have experienced the goodness of our people in America. An ordinary guy like me can be blessed with an extraordinary opportunity like this.”
Born and raised in North Charleston, South Carolina, Scott was raised in a single-parent household after the divorce of his parents. He was a troubled teenager who failed English, Spanish, geography, and civics in his freshman year in High School. He often recalls his close relationship with his grandfather, who was forced to drop out of school in the third grade, picked cotton to survive, and was not allowed to vote for more than half of his life. His grandfather was also unable to learn how to read, only to witness his grandson’s career rise from those humble beginnings in South Carolina to become both a member of Congress and a U.S. senator.
“Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime,” Scott said at the Republican National Convention in 2020.
After serving in the House of Representatives from 2011 until 2013, Scott was appointed by then-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to the Senate in 2012 after former Senator Jim DeMint left to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Democratic Senator Cory Booker, who was elected in a special election did not join the Senate until months after Scott’s appointment.
In 2024, the Senate will see its highest-ever Black senators serving concurrently. This group includes Sens. Raphael Warnock, Booker, Scott, Angela Alsobrooks, and Lisa Blunt Rochester. Rochester and Alsobrooks will also break barriers as the first two women to serve together in the Senate concurrently.
During his early days in the Senate, Scott occasionally would serve as the only Black person in the Senate. In 2016, following the controversial deaths of Eric Garner, Walter Scott, and Philando Castile he delivered a poignant speech about the deep divide between law enforcement and communities in America. He revealed that, as an elected official, he had been stopped and questioned seven times while driving. Even as a senator, Scott was questioned about his identity by Capitol Police despite wearing a pin identifying himenator.
“While I thank God I have not endured bodily harm, I have, however, felt the pressure applied by the scales of justice when they are slanted. I have felt the anger, the frustration, the sadness, and the humiliation that comes with feeling like you’re being targeted for nothing more than being just yourself,” Scott said in 2016.
As his career extends into the 119th Congress, Scott will make history as the first Black chairman of a Senate standing committee. He will lead the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and will also chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the only Black Republican to hold such a position.
Marking the milestone achievement, Scott said in a statement, “My goal is simple: make America work for Americans. As we get to work cleaning up the mess from the previous administration, I look forward to working with President Trump on his priorities, including paving a path for all Americans to have the necessary tools and resources to achieve their version of the American Dream.”
“We will unlock opportunity, strengthen our nation, and make America the shining city on the Hill again,” he added.
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