Democrats pride themselves on diversity and inclusiveness, so we might expect to see a united colors of Benneton ad in the Senate yearbook. But we’d be wrong.
According to the Washington Post, they have seen a report released by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) that shows that the majority of Senate staffers are white and female.
People working for Democratic senators are overwhelmingly white and mostly women, according to a first-of-its-kind report on diversity in some congressional offices.The current Congress is the most diverse in history, with more minority lawmakers than ever before and a record 21 women in the Senate. But a cadre of current and former congressional staffers, lobbyists and party donors have been pressuring congressional leaders — especially Democrats — to intensify the search for minorities to fill jobs on Capitol Hill and in district offices nationwide.Responding to the pressure, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) released a report Friday that confirms what staffers and outside observers have long believed: Despite having 16 women in the caucus and more minority senators than ever, Democratic Senate staffing is overwhelmingly white.Thirty-two percent of staffers are “non-Caucasian,” defined as African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American or Middle Eastern/North African, according to the report. Fifty-four percent of staffers are women, 46 percent are men.
Interestingly, the makeup of Senate staffers mirrors, in some cases, the demographics that actually exist in America.
According to the 2010 Census, 74% of Americans are “white alone,” 43% are Hispanic or Latino, and less than 13% are “black alone.” It’s worth noting here that there are only two black chiefs of staff working in the Senate, both of whom work for Republican Senators.
Since this tweet, another Senator hired a black chief of staff: Republican Jerry Moran (KS).
WaPo continues breaking down Democrat staffers and their diversity problem:
Thirty-two percent of staffers are “non-Caucasian,” defined as African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American or Middle Eastern/North African, according to the report. Fifty-four percent of staffers are women, 46 percent are men.The report “confirms what we’ve all known for some time — that there is a significant diversity problem that cannot be allowed to continue in the most representative branch of our government,” said Don Bell, director of the Black Talent Initiative at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a group that has been studying congressional staffing issues for years. He called on other House and Senate leaders “to follow suit and begin collecting this vital information.”Across the Senate Democratic staff, 13 percent are African American, roughly on par with the national percentage; 10 percent are Latino, behind the roughly 17 percent nationally; 8 percent are Asian-Pacific, ahead of the national percentage; 4 percent are Native American; and 3 percent are Middle Eastern/North African. (Some staffers chose more than one category.)“As we continue the full-court press to make the Senate a more diverse place, this survey will be important to help us track our progress,” Schumer said in a statement announcing the report’s release. “The more diverse the Senate is, the better it can serve our diverse country.”
According to this report, to reflect actual demographics, Senate Democrats need to hire more white people because they’re at only 68%, below the national 74%. They also need to fire more women and hire more men to reflect national demographics in this category, too. This would hit Elizabeth Warren particularly hard since she pays female staffers 71 cents to the “male” dollar. Further, the report seems to suggest that Democrats need to fire a bunch of Asian-Pacific people to help “make up” the lack of Hispanic / Latino diversity.
It sounds crazy to us, but they seem to be intent on ensuring accurate national demographic reflection in their Senate staffing, or perhaps the goal is to skew the national demographic and to under-represent white people in the name of diversity?
“Diversity” doesn’t address things like experience, skills, education, ability, or fitness for the job. This is an inherent flaw in Democrats’ thinking, and one that Senator Scott warns against.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., noting that Republicans have an edge on Democrat colleagues in this department, said he wants to encourage his colleagues to find and bring on board qualified minority applicants.. . . . For a Democratic Party that prides itself on embracing diversity, Scott said, the lack of it among Democrat staffers on Capitol Hill doesn’t make much sense.“We are oftentimes maligned as the party that doesn’t open the door of opportunities,” Scott said of Republicans, “whereas the other side of the aisle is celebrated for being the party of opportunity, when in fact there may be room for improvement in their staff numbers.”Scott’s 17-member staff on Capitol Hill includes nine individuals who are black, Hispanic, or Asian, or who have developmental disabilities. When women are included, the number rises to 13, communications director Sean Smith said.. . . . Scott, however, says it is important to hire individuals based on experience and qualifications for a particular position, not single out diversity as the one stipulation for hiring.“We don’t want to encourage folks to hire minorities for the sake of hiring minorities, but to hire the right person for the right job without any exclusions,” Scott said.
Just as Democrats have become the party of intolerance in the name of tolerance, their attempts to increase diversity for its own sake will make them the party of exclusion in the name of inclusion.
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