Effectiveness of the Congressional Black Caucus

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is an organization designed to maximize the collective influence of Black members of Congress. The CBC was formed during the first Nixon Administration in 1971 in response to that Administration's apparent indifference to issues important to Black Americans and to suggestions from Black members of Congress on how best to address those issues. Prior to the formation of the CBC, Black members of Congress had twice been denied access to President Nixon for the purpose of discussing the effects on Black Americans of administration policies and actions.

Throughout the first 10 years of the CBC's existence, the organization had to fight for its own recognition, as well as pursue the development of positions and the enactment of laws dealing with issues important to Black Americans. Many of the CBC's members and the organization's supporters outside of Congress credited the CBC with numerous successes. By 1981, however, "many Black legislators, including some of the CBC's original founders, became critical of the organization, viewing it as ineffectual and floundering." Although ardent supporters of the CBC like to think otherwise, this situation continues to prevail in 1994. Some members of the CBC and some Black Americans believe that the CBC is an effective organization, while some Black members of Congress view the CBC as an anachronism and many, perhaps most, Black Americans think that the C

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ating drug abuse, slavery reparations, civil rights, statehood for the predominantly Black American district of Columbia, environmental racism, the politics of crime bill, ancestral preservation, and economic parity for Black Americans. Other issues in this category include the Family Medical Leave Act, grants to minority students to study science, foreign aid to African and Caribbean countries, and rural hospital development. The CBC support of the Family Medical Leave Act did not lead to the enactment of the legislation. Similarly, legislation to provide grants to minority students to study science, foreign aid to African and Caribbean countries, and funds for rural hospital development has not been enacted. Slavery reparations and ancestral preservation legislation likely will not be enacted by the Congress during the lifetimes of any of the current CBC members. Statehood for the District of Columbia, the recognition of the politics of crime, dealing with the concept of environmental racism, and seeking economic parity through an equality of outcomes in employment and education regardless of competence are all contentious issues that will not likely be resolved to the satisfaction of the CBC in the near

Category: Government - E