Buried behind the news of presidential speeches and alleged Russian meetings was a minor victory for diversity in the Senate ranks, and by extension, the rest of us. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asked his caucus to adopt new rules to promote ethnic diversity among Senate staff, including a version of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” which will require Senate offices to interview at least one minority applicant for senior job openings in the future.
This is a good first step. The Senate has been the focus of sharp criticism for its lack of diversity: A 2015 study found that 7% of top staffers were people of color, while African Americans provide some 25% of all Democratic votes.
The Senate Black Legislative Staff Caucus, a professional and social network for black legislative staffers, has been one of the groups trying to turn things around. After the November election, they sent a letter to all Senate offices that included the result of a survey of their own, an ambitious data collection project that sought to determine the number of black Senate staffers and how they felt about their working environment.
The results were disappointing, but not surprising. Their census found that of the roughly 3,600 Senate staffers in the nation’s capital, just shy of 5% are black. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they “disapproved or were indifferent” to how Senate offices have treated African-American staffers. That’s a fairly significant pipeline problem.
Don Bell, the president of the SBLSC said that the Schumer announcement was an important step forward, though clearly there is much work to be done. “It is a democratic imperative that people of all backgrounds, experiences, and communities have a voice in the decision-making room as policy is being made for the country,” he told raceAhead, by e-mail. “Diversity ensures that the communities we serve are most effectively connected to their elected representatives.”
I asked Bell if he could share a recent example of when he thought a lack of diversity was particularly problematic, either as a legislative professional or as a citizen. His answer came immediately: It was after the police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, a flashpoint for many professional organizations. “It wasn’t just another day or week in the office for black staffers,” he said. “There were a number of us who were profoundly impacted by the images we saw on television, and even more impacted by the slow responses or silence by Members to those events. I believe that was a seminal moment for SBLSC. It was the moment where, at least in my mind, acceptance of the status quo was no longer acceptable.”