Unity and Struggle: The Political Behavior of African American Members of Congress

Abstract

have won positions of authority, legislative responsibilities have risen. African American members chair three full committees and seventeen sub-committees in the US House, have leadership roles in that body, and exert powerful influence on the direction of legislation through the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). In the past, African American members, both as individuals and as an organized bloc, viewed themselves as national leaders in the African American community and legislatively as representatives-at-large for 20 million black people/'2 Yet, many in the black community feel that black elected officials, including members of the CBC, have betrayed the objectives of the grassroots movement in exchange for voting rights and black representation in elected office. The movement to elect black officials has failed to hold those elected offi-