The Congressional Black Caucus is flexing its muscle like never before, poised to claim a pair of leadership slots in the House Democratic majority and a handful of committee chairman’s gavels. The new clout comes from a significant gain in African American members, nine total. If all nine join the CBC, as expected, they will push the caucus’s voting bloc to 52 members of the roughly 235 House Democrats expected next year. The CBC would account for 22 percent of all Democratic votes. And these i...
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More money would be spent on public schools, libraries, community centers and infrastructure, the minimum wage would rise to $15 per hour and the death penalty would be abolished under a 1,334-page bill that U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, and the Congressional Black Caucus are pushing. The comprehensive measure is designed to "increase the upward social mobility of black families and help ensure equal protection under the law," the Richmond-chaired caucus said in statement. The 48-mem...
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As President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address took place Tuesday night, an image of the Congressional Black Caucus began to spread. It showed the members of the caucus, wearing kente cloth adornments that stood out in the audience, sitting — some with blank expressions, others with more active looks of annoyance — as the president, somewhat misleadingly, touted that black unemployment had reached a historic low during his first year in office. The image, and the feelings of those ...
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Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-Louisiana, Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) says that President Trump's Chief of Staff John Kelly is in need of a "history lesson" in light of his recent comments about the Civil War. Kelly said in a Fox News interview Monday evening that the war resulted from a "lack of an ability to compromise." Richmond, in a scorching statement about the chief of staff's remarks, said that the CBC is "not surprised by the Trump White House's repeated attempts to whitew...
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The head of the Congressional Black Caucus lashed out at President Trump on Wednesday, accusing the president of both insensitivity and ignorance when it comes to issues of race. In a letter to Trump, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) said the president’s verbal attacks on NFL players protesting police brutality marked a “disgraceful response” to demonstrators — most of them African-American — fighting for social justice. Richmond did not mince words. “I write today to express my utter disgust with y...
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The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) ripped the Trump administration's move on Friday to roll back an Obama-era program that oversees and rates how police officers work with members of the communities they serve. “This is yet another example of what the black community has to lose under this administration," Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) said in a statement. “This decision is wrong, reckless, insensitive, and immature. It also further divides police departments and communities – rich and poor, bl...
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Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are pressing Facebook to change an advertising feature that allows advertisers to exclude certain racial groups. “We are writing to express our deep concerns with reports that Facebook’s 'Ethnic Affinities' advertising customization feature allows for advertisers to exclude specific racial and ethnic groups when placing housing advertisements,” they wrote in a letter to Facebook on Tuesday. “This is in direct violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, an...
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The Congressional Black Caucus has called on Facebook to stop allowing advertisers to exclude racial and ethnic groups when placing housing ads in what lawmakers say is a violation of federal anti-discrimination housing laws. "We are writing to express our deep concerns with reports that Facebook’s 'Ethnic Affinities' advertising customization feature allows for advertisers to exclude specific racial and ethnic groups when placing housing advertisements," members of the caucus wrote in a letter ...
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More than a dozen members of the Congressional Black Caucus marched down to the Department of Justice midday to demand federal intervention to stymie police shootings of unarmed African-Americans. "The killing of unarmed black men and women by police is a crisis," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). The letter calls on Lynch to “aggressively pursue investigations, indictments and prosecutions through the Office of Civil Rights against any and all law enforcement officers who harm or kill innocen...
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Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield said violence against police officers won't solve the country's problems, in a call for peace made Sunday after three police officers were killed and another three injured in Baton Rouge, La. "Tensions are high in our country, but violence does not lead to justice and targeting law enforcement does not bring about solutions," Butterfield said, according to The Washington Examiner. "The CBC continues to call for peace and we stand by state and ...
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