The Congressional Black Caucus, established in 1971, was founded to support laws that ensure Black Americans have equal rights and opportunity. Its new chairwoman, New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, says those goals very much match her own.
“Throughout my sort of public service career, it has been my vision to do everything that I can as a legislator to open up pathways and corridors for the advancement of Black people in America,” Clarke told Spectrum News
As the new caucus chair, Clarke — a 10-term Democrat who represents Brooklyn — has her work cut out for her. Hours after taking office, President Donald Trump took aim at programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.
The goal of the programs was to tear down systemic barriers for minorities and women. But the president argues DEI can be discriminatory, and that it has no place in a society that should be “colorblind and merit-based.” Clarke calls such arguments a “dog whistle.”
“The promises of the Trump administration are very focused on unleashing as much cruelty and ugliness as possible,” said Clarke. “There's a scarcity of morality in this administration, and we have to re-center ourselves in a morality that appreciates and that understands that we are stronger as a nation when we are united as a nation.”
Clarke said she wants caucus members to continue to educate Americans, as well as their colleagues in Congress, on Black history. The chairwoman said that the CBC’s job is to speak truth to power and serve as the resistance against efforts to counter the recognition of African Americans.
“We are a true window into the lives of Americans through the unique lived experiences of people of African descent,” said Clarke. “We bring that unique lens to the work that we do, and we are united in our quest for diversity, equity and inclusion in the United States of America.”
As part of this effort, caucus members have reintroduced legislation to create a commission to examine the legacy of slavery and develop proposals to provide reparations to descendants of enslaved people.
HR-40 — its name referring to an unfulfilled promise of 40 acres and a mule — is a bill that has never made it to the House floor and is nearly certain to go nowhere this session with Republicans controlling the House, Senate and White House. But Clarke said it is still worth pursuing.
“There's no better time than to have this conversation and debate right now,” said Clarke. “We're saying, you know, this is a good place to start, right here, where, you know, enslaved people were promised reparation, but it was never achieved.”
California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, who was elected whip of the CBC for the new Congress, echoed Clarke’s push for HR-40, as she looks to garner support for the caucus’ legislative priorities.
“We're not naive,” said Kamlager-Dove. “We know that it's an uphill battle to talk about reparations. But we are gearing up for when we take the House. We are gearing up for when we take back the White House. And it is important to talk about reparations and righting wrongs.”
The caucus is also pushing back on efforts to end celebrations of Black History Month. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ended all official military commemorations of so-called identity months, saying service members would be celebrated for their character rather than "immutable characteristics.”
“We want diversity in our ranks when we are trying to protect our country,” said Kamlager-Dove. “Diversity is our strength.”
“It is not illegal to celebrate Black History Month, and so if there are individuals in this administration that believe that they have all of the power and authority to stop people from learning about the history of this nation, that they're sadly mistaken,” said Clarke.
