Black and Brown Voices in Committee Deliberations on Civil Rights

Abstract

This chapter examines the individual efforts of legislators to advocate for minority interests via the protection of civil rights. Specifically, it takes a closer look at how much time members of Congress spent in committee deliberations supporting minority interests during the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), years of Democratic control of both chambers of Congress; the 104th Congress (1995–1997), years when a Republican Congress opposed a Democratic president; and the 107th Congress (2001–2003), years of continued Republican control of Congress, now under a Republican president. It is argued that strategic group uplift produces systematic racial and ethnic differences between minority legislators and white legislators: black and minority legislators actively promote and defend minority interests through strategic participation in hearings.