Congressional Black Caucus could use conservative voice

Once more, Republican entry into the Congressional Black Caucus is in play.

I was the first Republican voting member of the Congressional Black Caucus when I was elected to Congress in 1990. It was automatic. I was Black and I had been elected to represent a congressional district. Simple.

I was the first Black elected to Congress as a conservative and first Black Republican elected in nearly 60 years. For most of the last 30 years there has been a Black Republican in Congress. But what is even more remarkable is that I came from a congressional district that was 92% white. Back then, the CBC did not truly believe that a Black person could get elected from a majority white congressional district. Today the growth of the CBC has come largely by Black Democrats who represent majoritywhite districts.

This is where the story gets interesting.

I wrote legislation outlawing racially gerrymandered districts. I testified before a U.S. Court of Appeals in Savannah, Ga. against them. I said that we do not “need brown districts, Black districts, yellow districts, red districts — we just needed American districts.” The second highest court in the land agreed with my argument.

All good? No.

I was temporarily thrown out of the Congressional Black Caucus and then limited access to the meetings until reason prevailed due largely to bad publicity for the CBC.

Today the CBC is against gerrymandered districts. They agree with the logic I gave them 25 years ago. After all, the practice of “racially gerrymandered districts” in my opinion was the main reason the Republicans took over Congress following the 1994 elections flipping the South in the House of Representatives. Why? Creating a super minority-district results in creating multiple super white (majority districts) — it is in the math.

Now, unfortunately, we have politically gerrymandered congressional districts, and they have contributed to today’s political polarization.

There were many times when I worked well with CBC members to produce meaningful change. With the help of outstanding senior members of the CBC like Ron Dellums, Harold

Ford Sr. and Charlie Rangel the following initiatives I led were able to be accomplished: Defense Conversion funding to turn a munition plant into a large commercial mall in my hometown of Waterbury; Welfare recipients having the use of debit cards; and my Urban Entrepreneurial Opportunities Act became HUBZone legislation producing billions in federal contracts yearly and the New Markets Fund legislation — both helped our urban areas and passed after my departure.

Also, as chair of the Republican Task Force on Civil Rights we worked together to pass the last Civil Rights Bill — the most bipartisan Civil Rights legislation ever passed. We quickly worked to have Civil Right charges imposed on police officers during the Rodney King beating incident, and we collaborated to pass legislation to stop the burning of Black churches by white extremists.

Thus, despite the craziness of dealing with many members of the Congressional Black Caucus the aforementioned achievements made it all worth it.

Which brings me to Florida Rep. Byron Donalds.

Donalds seeks to embark upon a mission that will not be easy but is a worthy one. He would become the fourth voting member of the CBC.

However, Donalds has said he was being snubbed by the CBC.

His spokesman Harrison Fields told Business Insider: “Since starting in Congress, our office and the congressman have engaged with several CBC members expressing his interest in joining, but all we’ve got is the cold shoulder,” Fields said. “The sad reality is although the congressman and those in the CBC share the same race, the (R) behind his name disqualifies him from membership today.”

For the CBC, a lot can be done when folks engage in dialogue, listen to different ideas and attempt to work together. There are many ways to solving the same problem. Nobody has all the answers on improving the lives of Black Americans — not even the CBC. That is obvious.

Gary A. Franks served three terms as U.S. representative for Connecticut’s 5th District, is the first Black Republican elected to the House in nearly 60 years and New England’s first Black Member of the House. He is host of the podcast We Speak Frankly. @GaryFranks