Social Security, Minimum Wage, Medicare/Medicaid, the student loan program, and Civil Rights.  All these programs were created by Democrats.  These programs have shaped the very fabric of American Society.  They have also helped every American to live a better life and come closer to the American Dream.  They [these programs] have also improved the lives of minorities.   As a result, African-Americans have become a very loyal voting block for Democrats.  Some stats show African-Americans voting as high 90% for them. 

Democrats also made history by becoming the first major political party to nominate the first African-American for President.  However, with the election of President Obama, why are African-Americans and other minorities represented in low numbers on Capitol Hill Staff?  According to a 2009 article from the Louisiana Weekly, “Blacks in staff positions on major committees are few and are generally found on those with an African-American chairman, according to a survey released by the Congressional Black Caucus” (http://www.louisianaweekly.com/news.php?viewStory=1627).  

It is hard to imagine that with a constituency group voting for Democrats almost 90% of the time, that there would be a lack of African-Americans on the staff of  the most powerful institution in the world.  The article goes on to say, “Blacks have historically not had committee jobs because chairman, who select the staffs, often pick people who reflect their views and those they are personally comfortable with. Even when Blacks began to chair committees in the early 1980s because of growing seniority, the chairmen had a small pool of Black professionals to select from because of the lack of experience of Black applicants.
 
An example of the problem is the racial composition of the Democratic staffs of the House Agriculture and Rules committees. Both have one Black staffer each. The committees chaired by Thompson and Towns have Democratic staffs that are 45.5 percent and 44.4 percent Black, respectively.” (http://www.louisianaweekly.com/news.php?viewStory=1627).   The article also mentioned that Black aides comprise 10.5 percent or less of the staffs of nine House committees which have white chairmen. 

So the question has been asked.  Do Democrats Take for Granted The Minority Vote? Or is it that African-Americans are just not that involved in politics?  Either way, something has to be done.  Remember, no institution can survive without diversity.  What do you think?

Douglas Wilson, Founder

Politics is Power