Friday, January 04, 2013
Tim Scott is "The first African-American from the South to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction." Even if you include the Reconstruction-era Senators it isn't a long list:
Hiram Revels (R-Miss.) 1870-71
Blanche Bruce (R-Miss.) 1875-1881
Edward Brooke (R-Mass.) 1967-1979
Carol Mosely Braun (D-Ill.) 1993-1999
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) 2005-2008
Roland Burris (D-Ill.) 2009-2010
Eighty-six years between Bruce and Brooke. That's pretty disgraceful. Is the 24 year
stretch between Brooke and Braun worse? I'd like to think that 1979 to 1993 was a more racially enlightened period. I think it is notable that there are only four states represented on the list, and it is likewise interesting that the Republican Party has produced more black Senators than the Democrats. Of course, that's a bit of a historical trick. Reconstruction Republicans were a different breed of cat than Edward Brooke, a decent guy and the first African American popularly elected to the Senate. Consider the demographics as of 2000 depicted in the accompanying map. Now, as long as we are thinking about demographics, consider that 20 of the 100 Senators are women this year.In their honor, perhaps we should drop the "since Reconstruction" locution in order to emphasize exactly how disproportionate electoral representation in the US has always been.
Hiram Revels (R-Miss.) 1870-71
Blanche Bruce (R-Miss.) 1875-1881
Edward Brooke (R-Mass.) 1967-1979
Carol Mosely Braun (D-Ill.) 1993-1999
Barack Obama (D-Ill.) 2005-2008
Roland Burris (D-Ill.) 2009-2010
Eighty-six years between Bruce and Brooke. That's pretty disgraceful. Is the 24 year
// posted by Bill @ 11:36 AM 
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