Power and Diversity, 1990–2022
At the start of the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), the number of Black lawmakers in Congress increased from 27 to 40. Altogether, 17 Black lawmakers were elected to Congress in November 1992, including Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, the first Black woman and the first Black Democrat to hold a seat in the U.S. Senate. The increase in Black representation in Congress in 1993 followed court-mandated redistricting in southern states, a process that drew congressional districts with majority-Black populations to facilitate the election of Black Representatives. Thirteen Black Members were elected from newly created majority-Black districts, eight of whom hailed from southern states that had not elected a Black Representative since the nineteenth century.
The large increase in Black representation in Congress afforded Black Members and the Congressional Black Caucus new influence. In this era, 15 Black Members chaired 16 different standing and select committees. Black legislators also continued to rise through party ranks. J.C. Watts Jr. of Oklahoma became the first African-American lawmaker to hold a leadership position in the Republican Party when he was elected conference chair in 1999, and James E. Clyburn of South Carolina served as Democratic Majority Whip, becoming only the second Black Member to hold this position.
This era also saw the growth in number of Black Republican lawmakers serving in Congress. Beginning with the election of Gary A. Franks of Connecticut in 1990, eight Black Republicans have served in the House and the Senate. The return of Black Republicans to Congress has proceeded with the return of their party to power after Republicans won control of the House for the first time in 40 years in 1994.
Moreover, the geographic diversity of their districts meant that Black Members from both parties sought seats on a larger range of committees. From their new positions, Black Members influenced some of the most significant legislation of the period, including criminal justice policy, health care reform, and voting rights.
Nevertheless, African-American Members continued to face new challenges. By the second session of the 117th Congress (2021–2023), the 58 Black Members in the House and three Black Senators represented constituencies whose unique geography and special interests diversified their legislative agendas, occasionally making unity within the CBC difficult. And although leadership positions afforded African Americans a more powerful institutional voice and greater legislative leverage, Black Members had to make difficult choices between party imperatives and the interests of their constituents.
Ultimately, this generation of Black Americans in Congress defined their legislative agenda based on a range of factors, from their congressional districts to broader goals of civil and political rights for African Americans. And they did so on their own terms.