How Diverse is Congress? Depends on How You Look at it.
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Today, the U.S. Congress is more diverse than it has ever been. More than one in five voting members is part of an ethnic or racial minority. The legislative session of the United States has been growing more diverse for the fifth election in a row and minority legislators, who are also growing younger and are more often female, have been making headlines.
But there’s always two sides to a story.
When Representative Will Hurd (R-TX) announced Thursday that he wasn’t going to seek reelection in 2020, he might have lowered the number of Black Republicans in Congress from an already meager two to a really meager one.
The last of the Black Republicans?
Hurd is part of an exodus that has affected many Republican lawmakers at odds with the administration currently occupying the White House. He has been outspoken about his disagreement with many of President Donald Trump’s standpoints. Hurd was also one of the few Republicans publicly condemning Trump last month when the president said in a tweet aimed at Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) that the congresswomen of color should “go back” to their countries. His race might therefore be a factor, not just a coincidence, in the moderate’s decision to step aside.
In the 116th Congress there are currently 16 minority members serving as Republicans and 110 minority members currently part of the Democratic Party, creating a rather lopsided image of minorities in the federal government.
The Senate: No place for minority candidates
In the Senate, minorities are rare in both parties. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), the other Black Republican in Congress, is serving alongside only nine other people of color among 100 U.S. senators.
Time will tell if there will be more Black Republicans joining the 117th Congress in 2021. Freshman Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez already has a Republican challenger in her New York district who is a Black woman and an immigrant: Former New York state committeewoman Scherie Murray, who was born in Jamaica, is running on a platform of job creation, immigration reform and business development.
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More infographics can be found at Statista.com.
