Observer’s Periscope
Congressional Black Caucus moves forward
Rep. Ralph Metcalfe repre
sents Chicago's black 1stI lis
ti let. He was elected In 1970
and seives on tie Interstate
and Foreign Affairs Commit
tee.
Rep. Charles Rangel, re
presentative of Harlem , de
feated Adam Clayton Powell in
1970 ami seives on the sc lence
and AstronautsCoinmiiteeaml
the S e l e c t Committee on
C rim e.
Rep. Charles Diggs, J r , is
from Michigan. He was elected
in 1954 and is Chairman otthe
African Subcommittee on Af
rican Affairs of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee
and member of the committee
on D istrict of Columbia. He is
chairman of theCongressloiial
Black Caucus.
Representative George W,
Collins Is from Chicago's 6th
D istric t, where Blacks out
n u m b e r whites two to one.
E lected In 1970, he Is on the
Government Operations Coni-
mIttee and the Publ K W o r k s
Committee.
Rep. John Conyers is fi om
D etroit’ s piedominantly black
1st D istrict. He was elected
In 1964 and serves ontheCov-
ei nnient operations ami Judi
ciary Committees.
Rep. Ronald Dellums, from
Oakland's 7th D istrict, which
is ethnically m i x e d , w a s
elected* in 1970. He is on the
committees for D i s t r i c t of
Columbia ami Foreign Affaii s.
Rep. Robert Nix, of P hila-
tielphia, was elected in 1958
ami is the oldest member of
the Black Caucus. Deserves
on the Forlegn Affairs Com
mittee and on the Post Office
ami C ivil service Committee.
Representative
S h ir le y
Chisholm was elected f r o m
Brooklyn ( Bedford - stuyve-
sant) in I9b8. she serves on
the Education and Labor and
the Veterans’ Affairs Com
mittees.
Representative LacyClayts
from St. Louis, district that is
50 per cent black. Elected in
1969, lie serves on the Educa
tion and Labor Committee.
Rep. Walter Fauntroy was
elected to Congress as a dele
gate from Washington, D.C. In
1970. He is not officially a
member of the House and can
not vote. He represents a con
stituency of 750,000.
Rep. Augustus Hawkins re
presents Los Angeles' all
black 21st D istrict. Elected in
I9b2, lie serves on the Educa
tion ami LaborConiinittee ami
th e
House Administration
Committee.
R e p . Parren Mitchell re
presents an integrated district
of Baltimore, Maryland, ami
was elected in 1970. He is on
th e Small Business and the
Banking and Currency Com
mittees. He is a former col
lege professor.
Rep. Louis Stokes from
Ohio was elected in 1968. tie
is th e brother of f o r m e r
Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes
ami is on the powerful House
Appropriations Committee.
Washington D. C . and th e
federal government have al
ways held some hope for
blacks since they c o u ld not
look to the states or to local
government for redress. Until
recently there have been few
blacks in government who
could influence the decisions
that were made to affect black
people.
During R e c o n s t r u c t i o n
black men were elected to pub
lic office, and sat in the state
legislatures, but that period
was short and was followed by
more than a generation of re
pressive legislation.
Today, for the firs t time in
American history, black peo
ple are looking to W ashington
with more interest and hope,
kindled in part by the promise
that a group of black legisla
tors, the Congressional Black
Caucus, may at last have a ma
jo r influence on federal power.
T h e Caucus is composed of
12 Congressmen and one Con
gresswoman, one of whom is a
non-voting member. There
are growing signs that its pri
mary goal - to articulate th e
needs of the country's 22 m il
lion black people — is achiev
able.
T h e Caucus grew out of a
group that met informally, us
ually at weekly luncheons.
The program so far has in
cluded an exhaustive list of 61
detailed recommendations, a
compendium of black griev
ances, that was presented to
President Nixon after much
prolonged and p u b l ic iz e d
White House rebuff of the black
legislators, all of whom are
Democrats. When they w e r e
unable to see the president, the
Black Caucus announced that
its members would boycott the
President’s State of the Union
Address. Thedomesticpubli
city on the boycott was bad
enough: the international play
on th e story wasdevastating.
Radio Peking and Radio Mos
cow were especially hard on
the president, broadcasting
their message to the nations of
Africa and Asia.
Two days after the boycotted
address, the White House a r
ranged an audience.
On March 25,1971, the Black
Caucus went to see the Presi
dent. It was a disappointing
session and no answer was
given to their recommenda
tions.
Caucus
recommendations
assigned high priority to eco
nomic security and develop
ment, but included important
social problems such as ine
quitable welfare programs,
inadequate federal assistance
to state and local government,
the poverty program, poor
c h i ld development services,
civil rights, crim inal justice
and the drug problem.
Since the Roosevelt Ad
ministration th e Democratic
Party has taken the black vote
for granted, but theCaucus has
put the party on notice that it
cannot expect black support
without making and keeping
definite commitments.
Chairman Diggs feels the
Caucus has given the black
legislators m o r e p o w e r ,
since the whole has become
greater than the sum of its
parts. T h e i r presence as a
unified force has made C o n
gress more sensitive to black
needs and given black political
power a new reality and visa-
bility.
The aim of the Caucus is to
form a political strategy that
w i l l give blacks bargaining
leverage with both the Demo
cratic and Republican Parties.
" I f blacks use their votes in
telligently they can affect th e
outcome of e v e r y election
fiom city council to the Presi
dency,” says Representative
W alter Fauntroy, Washington
D .C .'s non-voting representa
tive. Blacks make up II per
cent of the population, but they
control the inner cities. "We
are n o t opposed to coalition
politics, only now we’ re going
to be part of the coalition,’ ’
one member said.
The members of the Black
Caucus have become more
than 13 Congressmen repre
senting their individual dis
t r i c t s . T h e y , as a u n i t ,
represent 24 million
black
Americans.
Medio hearings set
The Congressional Black
Caucus will hold ad hoc hear
ings in the mass media and
the black community in March.
Congiessman W illiam Clay
(Dem .-M o.) w ill chair the
hearings.
Samuel F . Yette w ill be
among those invited to testily.
Yette, Newsweek Magazines
first anil only black corres
pondent in its Washington
Bureau, was recently fired.
According
to Represen
tative Clay, "Numerous in
stances of the white mass
media’s failure to properly
interpret the Black movement
and the issues affecting the
Black community, their un
willingness to adequately in
crease minority employment
on their staffs, and the in
sidious method of firing a
number of highly competent
Black journalists prompted
this thorough investigation of
the mass media."
Recommendations obtained
from the hearings w ill be
used as a part of the National
Black Agenda being prepared
by the Congressional Black
Caucus.
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