Representation That Transcends Race

• In Event: Examining Black Legislative Caucuses

Abstract

Greater diversification within the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) poses challenges for descriptive representation and necessitates an intersectional analysis of Black voices within the Caucus that transcends race and delves into how other social characteristics impact representation. Other identities such as age, gender, sexuality, and geographical location have become more expansive and differ from the Caucus’ original makeup. In the early years of the Caucus’s founding, Black men actively dominated the agenda; now, more than half of the Caucus (53 percent) are women. Among this heterogeneity is also more ideological diversity, evidenced by the ideological caucuses Black members join. Such ideological diversity has exacerbated tension within the CBC by signaling a divide between moderate and establishment members and progressive, young newcomers like Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), and Summer Lee (D-PA), the first Black women to serve their state in Congress. With diverging policy stances on social issues, there are growing concerns that the CBC may no longer represent a distinctive Black voice in Washington as members are more ideologically divided today.
By analyzing ideological differences between legislators, this paper investigates how the intersectional representation of individual members' behavior reshapes the collective narrative of Black interests and the community's growing demands. Skeptical of the way political scientists have measured ideology, I am particularly interested in matters that CBC members have independent discretion on: their ideological caucus membership, and legislation they introduce and co-sponsor. I aim to provide a more nuanced understanding of the political ideologies Black men and women represent and anticipate this project will offer a new model of Black policy positions that broadens the horizon of Black representation by bridging the gap between social identity, ideological preferences, and substantive representation.

Author

• Karra McCray Gibson, Brown University