Black lawmakers continue King’s fight for change, ‘jobs and justice’
WASHINGTON – Three years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., 13 black members of Congress formed a group to tackle issues affecting their districts and constituents.
Today, the Congressional Black Caucus has a record 48 members. Many say they’re fighting some of the same battles the group’s founders fought nearly five decades ago.
“There has been some progress. I don’t think that any of us would have thought … that in 2008 this country could elect an African-American president,” says Rep. Terri Sewell, a Democrat from Alabama. “But I think that we have to be ever vigilant fighting for jobs and justice. Those issues are still very much at the forefront today.”
Sewell and other members say the caucus has come a long way as a powerful voting bloc since King’s death in 1968. Its members have taken public stands in recent years, including boycotting President Trump’s inauguration, leading a sit-in in the House chamber and pushing for the removal of Confederate flags and statues from the Capitol.
Rep. Cedric Richmond, chairman of the caucus, says the group is determined to be a force against policies that, among other things, roll back voting rights and reduce access to health care and capital for people of color.
“While it is nearly impossible to fill Dr. King’s shoes, the CBC has tried to continue his legacy, and the policies we advocate for are proof of that. The tactics we use are proof of that, too,” says Richmond, a Louisiana Democrat. “We legislate, debate and convene. We also boycott, sit in and kneel.
“We are because Dr. King was — quite literally. If Dr. King would not have fought and won so many civil- and voting-rights battles, we would not be a historic 48 members strong.”
In the years since the caucus was formed in 1971, it has fought to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, make King’s birthday a national holiday and address racial profiling.
But members of the mostly Democratic caucus say this Congress and this administration pose a particular challenge by attacking hard-fought gains in voting rights and civil rights.
Trump recently dismantled a commission he created to investigate his repeated allegations of voter fraud, despite experts’ arguments that there isn’t widespread fraud. Trump also urged more states to adopt strict voter ID laws.
“Since Donald Trump has been in office, he has said that states should have tighter voter identification laws, which is a dog whistle to those who want to continue to deny African Americans, Latinos and Muslims the right to vote,” says Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
Sewell says she’s “disheartened” that by early January no Republican had signed on to her bill intended to improve access to the polls.
“The fact that we’re not at a place where voting rights is a consensusbuilding issue is a problem,” she says.
Even as Democrats in a Republicancontrolled Congress, some caucus members have wielded influence as leaders.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn is the No. 3 Democrat in the House. Thompson is the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee.
Several members have been out front on key debates, including Sewell on voting rights and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., on criminal justice reform.
Caucus members also have pushed to improve access to Internet service, address police brutality and advocate for historically black colleges.
It has been a contentious few years. Some caucus members boycotted Trump’s swearing-in in January 2017. Caucus leaders met with Trump at the White House in March; they gave him a 130-page policy report titled “We Have a Lot to Lose: Solutions to Advance Black Families in the 21st Century.”
“We’re going to keep advocating,” Richmond said after the 45-minute meeting. “Where we agree, we’ll agree. Where we disagree, we will fight with the passion that this caucus has had since 1971 when we had our first meeting with President Nixon.”
A few months later, the caucus rejected a second invitation to meet with Trump, saying its concerns “fell on deaf ears” in the first meeting.
Caucus members concede that they haven’t been able to push through major legislation, but stress it’s important to raise concerns.
Said Sewell, “The stronger our numbers become, the bigger our bloc becomes, and I think the more powerful our voices become.”