According to a report, freshman Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) has been barred from joining the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
The CBC has been impeding the black Republican from membership, according to a source familiar with the caucus’ plan who spoke to BuzzFeed News.
The outlet cited that it’s been close to six months since the freshmen class of new members of Congress were seated, adding that the CBC is a “powerful and nominally nonpartisan group of black lawmakers in Congress.” I would have to disagree with the latter.
According to the racial group’s website, they don’t have a Republican member in their ranks. Donalds won his seat in November and came into Congress as a freshman but has not been included in the group. Gee, I wonder why?
The representative’s office told the outlet that the congressman has spoken to three members of the group, at the least, about joining, but has gotten no word back yet, and the odds of becoming a member when close to a quarter of the way through the 117th Congress look slim to none.
An aide to the new lawmaker said, “Congressman Donalds has expressed interest in joining the CBC but has yet to receive an official invitation.”
“If given, he’d gladly accept. The CBC did not respond to questions about the status of Donalds’ membership or why he was not being let in,” the aide said.
Politico reported back in February that Donalds wanted to join the CBC to influence a change in the caucus’s liberal dominance. They reported that Donalds wanted “to pull off something Washington has never seen: Membership in both the liberal Congressional Black Caucus and the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.”
Why did they have to say “ultra-conservative?” It’s always far-right or ultra-conservative with the Left, but you never see far-left or ultra-leftist.
Donalds said that for him, he felt that both groups were a natural fit.
“Obviously, the dominant voice in the CBC tends to be Democrat or liberal voices, and I want to bring change to that,” Donalds said, admitting that he’s used to people gauging his political identity based on his race. Not long after entering Congress, Donalds reminisced that a typical reporter asked him if he was going to support Nancy Pelosi, a radical leftist, for House Speaker, after assuming he was a Democrat because he’s black.
“Yes, I’m a conservative Republican, but I think in the Black community, we have a wide range of political thought,” he added. “It doesn’t always get talked about, but it exists.”
The CBC is supposed to be nonpartisan. At least that’s what they claim. But the fact that they don’t want him as a member of the caucus reveals a growing divide in Congress between the two parties since the current session began back in January. They should change the name of the caucus to the Liberal Congressional Black Caucus if they want to appear honest.
Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) rejected an invitation from the group in 2010 when he was a freshman elected for the first time to Congress as a member of the House. When he became a “Representative-elect,” he said wasn’t going to join the CBC because his “campaign was never about race.” And the CBC is all about race.
Former Representative Mia Love (R-UT) – who turned out to be a real disappointment in the end – in 2012 said she wanted to dismantle the caucus because as she claimed they “ignite racism.” In 2015 she wound up joining, anyway. I guess it was to ignite racism. And she wonders why she lost her seat.
Representative Burgess Owens (R-UT) – who will be a rock star of the GOP – who won Love’s old seat, let the “Wall Street Journal” know before he won his election that he didn’t have plans to join the CBC.
The report added that it is awkward for the leaders of the Tri-Caucus – which is composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) – when a Republican looks to join any one of them.
The outlet cited that Congressional Hispanic Caucus’s (CHC) bylaws exclude non-Democrats. In 2017 the group denied membership to former Representative Carlos Curbelo (R-FL). The same exclusionary rules still apply today.
A spokesperson for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus said, “Per Congressional Hispanic Caucus bylaws, all Democratic Members of Congress of Hispanic descent are eligible for CHC membership.”
Then they should add the word “Democrat” or “Liberal” to their caucus name so that people know that they exclude Republicans who are Hispanic to let people know it’s not really about being Hispanic, but more that members are leftist Hispanic.
When you think about it, supposed nonpartisan groups based on race are telling conservative people who fit the race of their group that they are not good enough even though they claim to be nonpartisan. Excluding people because of their ideology is the very antithesis of being nonpartisan. The CBC is telling Donalds he’s not black in their eyes because he’s a Republican. The CHC tells Republican Hispanics that they are not Hispanic in their eyes.
