The Congressional Black Caucus
Fifty Years of Fighting for Equality
by
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This burden and opportunity to speak of, advocate for, and legislate around the disparities in the lives of Blacks as citizens of the United States was and continues to be the mission of the caucus. CBC members understood that they were descriptive representatives as well as symbolic representatives. They understood the burden of being Black in America and could articulate this burden in legislative terms. They also understood they were a symbol of full Black citizenship in the American civil liberties and civil rights frame. Their election and creation of the Caucus symbolized the collapse of dual sovereignty; a sovereign system which allowed Blacks in Southern states to be denied their full rights as citizens of the United States. Such a denial has a deep history that dates back to the founding of the country and is British colonial design. Such a design purposely denied the interests of Blacks by legally designated them as property in the effort to deny Congressional representation.
The development of the Congressional Black Caucus over the last fifty years coincides with the increase in civil rights and civil liberties of Blacks through the country. It is in this framework that this book is written. The work reviews the legislative accomplishments, the legislative influence, and global impact the Congressional Black Caucus has made since its founding by focusing on how the Caucus has used legislative activism to improve the lives of the oppressed and forgotten throughout the United States. The work asserts that a racialized government structure has made the work done by the CBC appear as one step forward and two steps backward. This is why a historical review and analysis is needed to truly understand the obstacles the original thirteen members were indeed up against while understanding the current obstacles the CBC members face.
To explicate the racial government structure and the CBC’s fight against it through their legislative behaviors, the book is divided into six chapters. In chapter one, the work opens with a historical analysis of Black citizenship. Slavery produces the dichotomy of state citizenship versus national citizenship for Blacks. The CBC represents the collapse of that dual citizenship cemented by the Dred Scott case of 1857. Therefore, the chapter examines this duality by reviewing the legal rights excised by freed Black men in Maryland, which was a slave state. The contrast of these two simultaneous phenomena establishes citizenship for Blacks at the state level, and conversely denied that same citizenship at the national level. Such citizenship could be parceled due to the sovereignty afforded to each state reflected in multiple state constitutions. The creation of sovereign territories, to compartmentalize slavery, congealed under a national flag is the bedrock of the United States federalist system.
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About the Book
The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is the first racial caucus established in the Western world. The CBC was founded in 1971 after the historic Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the 1970 Census; both of which allowed voting districts to be redrawn—especially in the South where Blacks were denied constitutional rights. This burden and opportunity to speak of, advocate for, and legislate around the disparities in the lives of Blacks as citizens of the United States was, and continues to be the mission of the Caucus. CBC members understand that they are descriptive representatives as well as symbolic representatives charged with producing substantive legislation. They are a symbol of full Black citizenship; their individual elections, the creation, and the sustained legislative power of the Caucus symbolizes the collapse of dual sovereignty. A symbol many are bound to defecate with the inflation of states rights that will in-turn nullify the elections of many Black legislators.
The author reviews the legislative accomplishments, the legislative influence, and global impact the Congressional Black Caucus has made since its founding by focusing on how it has used legislative activism to improve the lives of the oppressed and forgotten. The work asserts that a racialized government structure has made the work done by the CBC appear as one step forward and two steps backward. Therefore, a historical review and subsequent analysis is imperative to truly understand how a racialized structure established obstacles the original thirteen members had to face, while understanding how those current obstacles hinder the CBC members of today.
About the Author
Sherice Janaye Nelson is a speaker, author, researcher, and Assistant professor at Southern University and A&M College. She is a Black Diaspora expert who focuses on the political, social, and economic effects of racism. Her co-authored piece, “Insulated Blackness: Cause for Fracture in Black Political Identity” was recently published in the Journal Politics, Groups, and Identities, which established the theory why self-identified Blacks vote against their own self-interest due to the lack of experienced racial discrimination. She is the Director for the Jewel Limar Prestage Public Policy, Polling, and Research Center, and a proud alumna of Howard University, where she received a Doctorate of Philosophy in Political Science, specializing in International Relations, Black politics, and American government. She has only been educated at Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU’s) and earned her Masters of Public Administration focusing on Public Management at the University of the District of Columbia; and graduated magna cum laude with a dual degree in History and English from Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.