This one is going to blow up in here. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0107/2389.html Black Caucus: Whites Not Allowed By: Josephine Hearn January 23, 2007 12:32 PM EST As a white liberal running in a majority African American district, Tennessee Democrat Stephen I. Cohen made a novel pledge on the campaign trail last year: If elected, he would seek to become the first white member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Now that he's a freshman in Congress, Cohen has changed his plans. He said he has dropped his bid after several current and former caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply. "I think they're real happy I'm not going to join," said Cohen, who succeeded Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., in the Memphis district. "It's their caucus and they do things their way. You don't force your way in. You need to be invited." Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively African-American." Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay's son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed. "Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear." The bylaws of the caucus do not make race a prerequisite for membership, a House aide said, but no non-black member has ever joined. Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., who is white, tried in 1975 when he was a sophomore representative and the group was only six years old. "Half my Democratic constituents were African American. I felt we had interests in common as far as helping people in poverty," Stark said. "They had a vote, and I lost. They said the issue was that I was white, and they felt it was important that the group be limited to African Americans." Cohen remains hopeful, though, that he can forge relationships with black members in other ways. "When I saw the reticence, I didn't want anyone to misunderstand my motives. Politically, it was the right thing to do," he said. "There are other ways to gain fellowship with people I respect." Cohen won his seat in the 60 percent black district as the only white candidate in a crowded primary field. If he faces a primary challenge next year from a black candidate, as expected, some Black Caucus members may work to defeat him. A similar situation arose in 2004 after redistricting added more black voters to the Houston district of former Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas. Although House tradition discourages members of the same party from working against each other, about a dozen black lawmakers contributed to Bell's opponent, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, the eventual victor. Even Bell's Houston neighbor, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, campaigned against him. One black member who criticized his colleagues for sandbagging Bell was Cohen's predecessor, Harold Ford. "You have an incumbent, and you don't support an incumbent? It was inappropriate," Ford told Congressional Quarterly in 2004. Cohen has won high marks for hiring African Americans. A majority of his staff is African American, he said, including his chief of staff.
Am I the only one here who sees similarities between this and affirmative action? (which I sometimes support and sometimes don't).
The usually don't let black republicans in either. Do you guys seriously think that a white man in the House of Representatives or senate wants a group of black people telling him how he should vote all issues? As a member of the caucus, that is exactly what would be expected of him.
From CBC's web page... The Congressional Black Caucus was formed in 1969 when the 13 black members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined together to strengthen their efforts to address the legislative concerns of black and minority citizens. and... The visions and goals of the original 13 members, "to promote the public welfare through legislation designed to meet the needs of millions of neglected citizens," have been reaffirmed through the legislative and political successes of the Caucus. The CBC has been involved in legislative initiatives ranging from full employment to welfare reform, South African apartheid and international human rights, from minority business development to expanded educational opportunities. Most noteworthy is the CBC alternative budget which the Caucus has produced continually for over 16 years. Historically, the CBC alternative budget policies depart significantly from administration budget recommendations as the Caucus seeks to preserve a national commitment to fair treatment for urban and rural America, the elderly, students, small businessmen and women, middle and low income wage earners, the economically disadvantaged and a new world order. http://www.congressionalblackcaucus.net/ If J.C. Watts is allowed to join (he didn't), I don't see why a Dem who is obviously trying to work for his constituents wouldn't be allowed in, or at least as ad hoc/non-voting member. I don't have any problems with there being a caucus of black legislators and a caucus of people concerned with minority issues.
If it were the other way around, this thread would be about 10 pages long by now. This type of racism, especially in a sphere of public service so grand, should never ever be tolerated.
No it wouldn't. The only way a thread gets to 10 pages if there are people on both sides of the issue. No one's defending this, thus not many responses. Do you think if a White Caucus existed and disallowed black members, there'd be anyone defending that?
It's their caucus, they can do as they like. I do think they are shooting themselves in the foot and turning their backs on a large swathe of black Americans by not cooperating with white representatives of black districts, but whatever. Would they allow a black rep of a white district in? What about Barack Obama?
I don't know what to make of this. Personally, I wonder what would a 'white' perspective bring to this group. I wonder if the guy would be willing to 'toe' the line that the caucus agreed upon. Where would his loyalties lie. . . personally I would have let him in . . . then observed. If he was a disruptive force or a cooler. . i'd bounce him out If he was productive and willing to hag tough in the storm it would be all for the better. I think they worry they may get overrun like Perot's Party did They let in a few white guys. . then a few more until they out numbered . . voted out .. and a non factor Rocket RIver
Actually, I don't think they need a white perspective, but it appears that Representative Cohen would like some black perspective. If the goal of the group is to help meet the needs of black citizens, they should certainly be open to accepting members whose constituency is mostly black.
Cohen is doing it so he won't be easily defeated by a black candidate in the future. Politics have a way of making things cut and dried.
Well, when your race is 90% of Congress, you don't really need a Caucus, do you? Although it woulda been nice if, between 1969 and now, black Congresspeople had felt empowered enough to not separate themselves from everyone else (it's actually pretty counter-intuitive in the real world), but I guess in an exclusively political environment (with about 200 yrs of historical context, remember our right to vote, in the South where we're in larger proportions, was only guaranteed five years earlier) it makes sense. I also ultimately think Cohen's application for membership, if he handles the fallout correctly, would actually earn him support from the Caucus at some point in the future. This business of not supporting party incumbents, very likely because of their race (although it could just as easily be due to some "race-related" legislation, and Zell Miller did the same exact thing 2 yrs ago), could be increasingly frowned upon, more heavily publicized and force a House rule of some sort. (Something tells me current and future generations of whites will be more liberal about gays and less liberal about race over the long term, many thanks to gangster rap, Mike Tyson and affirmative action.) This is kind of like when Sandy Koufax was in college and tried to join the Fellowship of Chrisitian Athletes (ba-dum bum).
I kind of have to side with the Black Caucus on this one. People who might know me on this site know that I am a conservative , anti-affirmative action guy so this might seem hypocritical (well I never said I wasn't a hypocrite ) I just remember back in school when I joined some Asian student groups and saw the lone white guy there. While I really didn't care enough about it to say anyting - I felt that he didn't belong. It always felt a little patronizing and demeaning - kind of like the Tarzan-syndrome (or Tom Cruise in the Last SAMURAI). Kind of like - "Gee this is great - we're cool enough that a white person would deign to socialize with us! We should feel honored by his very presence!!!") I also used to hear b****y white girls (sorry they were always white girls) who would complain about the very existence of minority-student groups ("Well you don't see a white student union do you!!"). It may be difficult to explain to the majority race - but race and skin color do define what we are or how we are perceived - and people of the same race will often share a some sort of kinship that a white person will not understand. When I studied in Taiwan with a bunch of students - I noticed that the white students tended to bond with each too so I think some of them might understand. To argue that it is morally wrong for the Black Caucus to deny membership to a white is basically to say that the very idea of a black caucus is wrong. And even though I stand pretty much diametrically opposed to the said caucus politically - I do not in anyway condemn their existence. It's called the Black Caucus for a reason - not the "Caucus with mostly blacks in it".
But look at it from the lone white guy's position. Maybe he learned something and was finding new ways to relate in ethnically diverse situations. Maybe because you guys let him, he might be able to help argue that the white girl argument about white social clubs was stupid etc. Why not let someone who might not understand the things that are important to you, get a glimpse. It might help them even if it seems strange to you. I've never joined any social clubs, so I am not totally familiar with how things work, but I was just playing devil's advocate.
