The Republican National Committee honored three members of Congress at their 3rd Annual Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon Wednesday.
In honor of Black History Month, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), along with Reps. Mia Love (R-UT) and Will Hurd (R-TX), were celebrated by the party as present day history makers. A special tribute was made posthumously to the late Sen. Edward Brooke, III (R-MA), the first black American popularly elected to the United States Senate.
“As I accept the award as a trailblazer, I really want to make sure that I highlight the real trailblazers -- and on their shoulders I stand,” Scott said as he received the award. “I thought about my grandfather, and in his lifetime -- one man’s lifetime -- you can go from picking cotton to having a family member in Congress. And I was not the most cooperative young man by the way.”
Scott is the first black Senator elected from the South since Reconstruction. Love is the first black Republican woman ever to serve in Congress. Hurd is the first black Republican elected to Congress from Texas.
“We need to remove ourselves from a different kind of slavery, and what I’m talking about is the slavery that comes from being dependant on people in power,” Love said at the luncheon.
The event was held at the historic Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.
“With Mia, Will and Tim, we are reminded of what our party was able to accomplish in the last election,” said Reince Priebus, Chairman of the RNC. “Not only is our delegation to Congress more diverse, but we also saw increased support nationally among black voters.”