Why Are There ZERO African American Senators?
In the Senate’s history, there have only been six African American senators.
Currently, there’s a whopping ZERO. And according to the Huffington Post, that’s not likely to change any time soon.Experts point to a lack of infrastructure, fundraising troubles, and disinterest from the party establishment and voters and reasons for the disparity.
Diversity in general is a serious problem in the Senate, with only 17 female senators currently serving. And while no one seems to know what to do about it, every agrees that a more diverse Senate could bring significant change to the conversations and activities of the Senate.
“The individuals who spoke with The Huffington Post all said that increasing the diversity of the Senate will not only change what the chamber looks like, but it will also change the nature of the discussion.
‘Any time you have a cross-section of American people in any decision-making process, you improve the quality of the decisions,’ said Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).
Fauntroy said he believes that having more people of color in the Senate could shift the discussion over to the high levels of poverty and inequality in the country.
‘I’m not saying you’ve got to be poor to understand poor people,” he said, “but I do believe that the legislature has to be well-shaped demographically, and you can’t do that if we continue to put up the same people all the time for office.'”
Read more at HuffingtonPost.com
Why do you think there has been so little diversity in the Senate?
What will it take to change this?
Sound off below!
