I think about the fact that here I am sitting here, having this conversation with you, a kid growing up in a single-parent household, a mom who believed in a future that I could not see, a mentor that came along and taught me very simple business principles. And it works! It works!

And if we were to unleash free markets throughout this country, if we would address the antiquated system that we have on taxation, if we would lower our corporate taxes, we'd see prosperity in this nation in a way that we haven't seen in a long time!

We have an opportunity to inspire Americans, and yet we're going to have to have a conversation about the lowest common denominator of fear.

VAN SUSTEREN: How do we get away from that? I mean -- I mean, when I heard that, I mean, I thought it was just sort of code. You're a Republican. You're African-American. So the NAACP -- you know, what better way to -- you know, to get at you than slap you around on something so personal to an African-American as civil rights...

SCOTT: Absolutely.

VAN SUSTEREN: ... as it should be to every American.

SCOTT: Of course. Well, the way that we get beyond it is recognize that we have an opportunity to inspire young folks. I think about kids who are coming up in the same situation that I came up in.

We can talk to those kids about the fact that this country, the American dream, is alive. It's well. And in the worst economy -- I look back at the unemployment rate when I graduated from high school. It was over 8.3 percent, very similar situation as it is today.

And yet, coming out of school, I had so much optimism about the future because I believed what my mentor and my mother were telling me, and it's still true today, that the future of this nation is dependent on someone coming up with one really good idea. And that's part of the free market system that we have.

If the small government concept grows, we have fewer dollars leaving our pockets, we have more folks motivated to make a profit. As a small business owner for the last 14-and-a-half years, I hire people based on my profits.

It's a great system, the best in the world!