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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 2017)
January 11, 2017 The Skanner Page 7 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Lack of Diversity in Hiring Plagues Senate on Both Sides of the Aisle Only three senior-level Senate staff positions are held by African Americans By Lauren Victoria Burke (NNPA Newswire Contributor) D on Cravins, the National Urban League’s senior vice president for policy, challenged mem- bers of the U.S. Senate, particularly the Senate’s 46 Democrats, on the lack of minority hiring in their senior staff po- sitions at a two-hour fo- rum on Capitol Hill. “Out of 300 senior-level positions in the Senate, only three are occupied by African Americans. What’s most insulting “ tive agenda controls the $3.8 trillion dollar fed- eral budget and provides oversight over federal employees — collectively 4.1 million people. Republican Senator Tim Scott’s Chief of Staff Jennifer DeCasper, the only Black Chief of Staff currently serving in the U.S. Senate, participated in the discussion. The only Black Legislative Director in the Senate, Clint Odom, who was recently hired by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), was in the audience. The National Urban League and the Joint African American in any of the three senior staff positions. New Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sena- tors Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tim Kaine (D- Va.), Mark Warner (D- Va.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chris Van Hollen (D- Md.), currently have no Black senior staff mem- bers. Additionally, Sen. Van Hollen became the Chairman of the Demo- cratic Senatorial Cam- paign Committee in No- vember 2016 and hired no Black senior staff , even though the elector- ate is becoming increas- ingly Black and Brown. “The numbers are Center for Political and Economic Studies have been specifi c to focus on Black and Latino hiring to senior staff positions in the Senate; Chief of Staff , Legislative Direc- tor and Communications Director. The reasons are obvious to Capitol Hill insiders; Senior staff ers hire junior staff , control the offi ce budget and handle the most import- ant issues in the offi ce from policy priorities to communications. The lack of minority hiring and promotion is particularly bad for Sen- ate Democrats, many of whom owe their election victories to Black vot- ers. No Senate Democrat from a state with over 20 percent African Amer- ican population has an See SENATE on page 10 ““Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve...” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ‘We are making it abundant- ly clear -- the time is now’ to me is that only one of them works for a Dem- ocrat member — a party that goes out every elec- tion and relies on Black voters to elect them,” said Cravins, a former Louisiana state senator; Cravins served as Chief of Staff for former-Sen- ator Mary Landrieu for two years. “I’m not hap- py, today. I’m frustrated and embarrassed and I’ve had enough.” Cravins added: “The time for lip service is over. We won’t stop pressing this issue.” About 250 people showed up for the open discussion on congres- sional hiring, specifi - cally focused on the low numbers of Black and Latino staff in the U.S. Senate. “We are making it abundantly clear -- the time is now,” said Don Bell, who added that Senator Schumer, who became the new Demo- cratic Leader in the Sen- ate when Sen. Harry Reid (D-Ariz.) retired, only has Black staff at non-se- nior staff levels. The senior staff posi- tions on Capitol Hill are Chief of Staff , Legislative Director and Communi- cations Director. “There are nearly 40 general counsels of color standing at the helm of Fortune 500 companies in America. Forty. And yet you’d be hard pressed to fi nd one Black one in the Hart Senate Offi ce Building,” Cravins told the audience of staff , ad- vocates and press. “It’s an embarrassment. It’s a travesty. Something has got to be done.” Will Searcy, the direc- tor of the Black Talent Initiative at the Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies, said that Senate staff dictates that the Senate’s legisla- worst than they have ever been,” Cravins railed. “We’ve been talking about this issue for decades.” The issue of Senate At Multnomah County, we celebrate the legacy of Dr. King by serving our citizens with equity and inclusion through our business and contracting processes. We welcome and encourage the participation of state of Oregon Certifi ed Firms in achieving greater outcomes for all For more information, contact Lee Fleming, Multnomah County Supplier Diversity Officerlee.fleming@multco.us or 503.988.7540 Find opportunities at: www.multcopurch.org or http://pdxprocurementsearch.com/