Congressional Black Caucus Continues to Block Cao

By Alexander Laska / May 14th, 2009

Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao (R-LA), who represents a district that is 64 percent African-American, wishes to join the Congressional Black Caucus. The one problem? He himself is not black.

Cao, who defeated embattled incumbent William Jefferson to become the first native of Vietnam ever elected to Congress, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he was interested in joining the CBC. This would make him the first non-black member to join the group since its creation in 1971. So far, the Caucus has yet to release a statement on the pursuit. Others, however, have started making their predictions.

"They’re not going to let him," said David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in an interview with the Times-Picayune. "It ain’t going to happen."

"I understand the CBC’s desire to keep itself focused on the unique circumstances and desires of their constituents," said Adam Serwer of The American Prospect. "But people like Cao should be let in, if only because excluding them causes more problems than it’s worth."

Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic agreed with this sentiment, saying that "it’s one thing to have a Caucus specifically interested in the welfare of African-Americans. It’s another to have a private, race-based, social club."

As to whether or not Cao will accomplish his goal of joining the CBC, George Mason University political scientist Michael Fauntroy sees it as unlikely.

"I don’t expect it to work out, but if it doesn’t, to me the caucus will look bad on this," told the Times-Picayune.

While Cao may or may not become the first non-African-American politician to join the CBC, he is certainly not the first to try.

Representative Pete Stark (D-CA), who is white, tried unsuccessfully to join the CBC back in 1975. More recently, Jewish Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN), who represents a district that is 60 percent black, was also blocked from joining the CBC.

"Quite simply, Rep. Cohen will have to accept what the rest of the country will have to accept – there has been an unofficial Congressional White Caucus for over 200 years, and now it’s our turn to say who can join the ‘the club,’" read an official statement released by Representative William Lacy Clay Jr. (D-MO) on the matter. "He does not, and cannot, meet the membership criteria, unless he can change his skin color. Primarily, we are concerned with the needs and concerns of the black population, and we will not allow white America to infringe on those objectives."

The bylaws of the caucus do not state one way or the other whether one must be African-American to join. However, members of the Caucus agree that the group should remain "exclusively black."

"It’s an unwritten rule," Clay said. "It’s understood."

Even black Republicans, however, have had trouble in the past obtaining and keeping membership in the CBC. Representative Gary Franks (R-CT) was essentially removed from the caucus in 1993 after criticizing the majority-black districts created under the Voting Rights Act. This has particular implications for Cao’s chances due to the fact that he is a conservative Republican representing what is typically a democrat-voting district.

Cao maintains, though, that he is only trying to join the Caucus so that he can better represent his constituents, and that he is not doing so to shake things up.

"I’d join any caucus that would have me," Cao said.

www.scoopdaily.com/2009/05/14/congressional-black-caucus-continues-to-keep-cao-out/