Correction:
An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) was the first chairman of the caucus. Rep. Charles Coles Diggs Jr., a Democrat who represented Michigan from 1955 to 1980, was the first chairman. Rangel was a founding member. This version has been corrected.
Forty years ago, the purpose of a caucus to represent African Americans in Congress seemed clear to its founders: to eradicate racism.
The 13 legislators who formed the Congressional Black Caucus in March 1971 saw themselves as representatives of black people all over the country. Theirs was a role akin to those of civil rights activists. Only they had the bully pulpit of the country’s most powerful legislative body.
The current caucus members , who marked the anniversary of its founding this week, have a mission that is more diffuse, a role that is harder to define and power that has been fully absorbed into the nation’s political system.
For one, the caucus has 43 members from urban and rural districts. It includes one Republican. A handful of its members have been elected from majority-white districts. Eight have faced ethics investigations in the past three years. One of its members is the third-most powerful House Democrat, and a former caucus member sits in the White House.
“There are challenges today that we did not have then,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D-Mo.), who chairs the caucus and represents a district that is majority white. “We cannot at all times have all of the members in sync because of the differences we have in our constituencies. But most of the time when we vote our conscience, we end up voting in a bloc.”
The challenges faced by the modern CBC include forging a relationship with the White House. President Obama met Wednesday with its leadership team. The conversation was wide-ranging, according to a CBC spokeswoman, and focused on federal budget issues and the country’s long-term investment in poor communities.
In the past, CBC members — five of whom sat down for a roundtable interview with The Washington Post this week — have complained of a distant relationship, while also reinforcing their support for Obama.
“There is a strong pressure in the system of government that we have to make it difficult for a progressive to stay progressive in the system. That goes all the way up to the White House,” said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), who said it will be harder to get Obama reelected than it was to elect him. “We have a database on candidate Barack Obama, and we have a database on President Barack Obama. . . . They don’t comport.”
The tension with the White House is part of what the caucus sees as its historic role of holding presidents accountable to an agenda that advances African Americans. Still, it creates an awkward tension as the caucus continues to celebrate the ascension of a former member to the White House.
“There is no healthy relationship where two people do not disagree,” Cleaver said. “It has surprised me that journalists become candidates for cardiac arrest when they see or hear an African American disagreeing with an African American. We would become inauthentic if we did not have disagreements with this president.”
It was a political fight with a president that helped to forge the caucus’s reputation 40 years ago. In 1971, it was thought odd that 13 black congressmen, who held seats on none of the powerful committees in Congress, would band together. So when the caucus asked to meet with President Richard M. Nixon, he refused.
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