African Americans in the United States Congress
Encyclopedia
African Americans began serving in greater numbers in the United States Congress
during the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War
after slaves were emancipated and granted citizenship rights. Freedmen gained political representation in the Southern United States
for the first time. The Compromise of 1877
initiated the period that followed, known as Redemption among white southerners. Conservative, mostly white Democrats regained political power in state legislatures across the South and worked to restore white supremacy. State legislatures reduced voting by blacks by passing more restrictive electoral and voter registration rules, amending constitutions to the same ends from 1890–1910, and passing Jim Crow laws
to establish racial segregation
and restrict labor rights, movement and organizing by blacks. The Democratic Party essentially dominated the "Solid South
" until the 1960s. As a result of the African-American Civil Rights Movement
, the US Congress passed laws to end segregation and protect civil rights
and voting rights.
During two waves of massive migration
within the United States in the first half of the 20th century, more than 6 million African Americans moved from the South to northern and midwestern
industrial cities. Some were elected to national political office from their new locations. During the Great Depression
, many black voters switched allegiances from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, in support of the New Deal
economic, social network, and work policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt
's administration. This trend continued in the 1960s. At the same time, there was a different movement among whites in the South, who began to vote for Republican candidates for national and then state offices.
A total of 123 African Americans have served in the United States Congress
, most in the United States House of Representatives
. This includes five non-voting members of the House of Representatives, who represented the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. An additional House candidate was elected in 1868 but was not seated due to an election dispute.
Six African Americans have served in the U.S. Senate, two in the Republican Party
from Mississippi
during the Reconstruction Era and four more recently: three Democrats
from Illinois
(including Barack Obama
) and one Republican from Massachusetts
.
was established after the Civil War
by amendments to the Constitution
. The Thirteenth Amendment
(ratified December 6, 1865), abolished slavery
. The Fourteenth Amendment
(ratified July 9, 1868) made all people born or naturalized in the United States citizens. The Fifteenth Amendment
(ratified February 3, 1870) forbade the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and gave Congress the power to enforce the law by appropriate legislation.
In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act
and the Reconstruction Act
, which dissolved all governments in the former Confederate states
with the exception of Tennessee
. It divided the South into five military districts, where the military through the Freedmen's Bureau helped protect the rights and safety of newly freed blacks. The act required that the former Confederate states ratify their constitutions conferring citizenship rights on blacks or forfeit their representation in Congress.
As a result of these measures, blacks acquired the right to vote across the Southern states. In several states (notably Mississippi
and South Carolina
), blacks were the majority of the population. By forming coalitions with pro-Union whites, Republicans took control of the state legislatures. At the time, state legislatures elected the members of the US Senate. During Reconstruction, only the state legislature of Mississippi elected a black senator. On February 25, 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels
was elected the first black member of the Senate
, becoming also the first black member of the Congress.
Blacks were a majority of the population in many congressional districts across the South. In 1870, Joseph Rainey
of South Carolina
was elected to the US House of Representatives, becoming the first directly elected black member of Congress. Freedmen were elected to national office also from Alabama
, Florida
, Georgia
, Louisiana
, Mississippi
, North Carolina
and Virginia
.
All of these Reconstruction era black senators and representatives were members of the Republican Party. The Republicans represented the party of Abraham Lincoln
and of emancipation. The Southern Democrats represented the party of planters, slavery
and secession
.
From 1868, southern elections were accompanied by increasing violence, especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and the Carolinas. In the mid-1870s, paramilitary
groups such as the White League
and Red Shirts worked openly to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate blacks from voting. This followed on the earlier years of secret vigilante
action by the Ku Klux Klan
against freedmen and allied whites.
After the disputed Presidential election of 1876
between Democratic Samuel J. Tilden
, governor of New York
, and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes
, governor of Ohio
, a national agreement between Democratic and Republican factions was negotiated, resulting in the Compromise of 1877
. Under the compromise, Democrats conceded the election to Hayes and promised to acknowledge the political rights of blacks; Republicans agreed to no longer intervene in southern affairs and promised to appropriate a portion of federal monies toward southern projects.
By the 1880s legislators increased restrictions on black voters through voter registration and election rules. Nonetheless, in 1888 John Mercer Langston
, president of Virginia State University
at Petersburg
, was elected to the US Congress as the first African American from Virginia
(and the last for nearly a century.)
From 1890 to 1908, starting with Mississippi
, white Democrats passed new constitutions in ten Southern states with provisions that restricted voter registration and forced hundreds of thousands of people from registration rolls. These changes effectively prevented most blacks and many poor whites from voting. Many whites who were also illiterate were exempted from literacy tests by such strategies as the grandfather clause
, basing eligibility on an ancestor's status as of 1866, for instance.
Southern state and local legislatures went on to pass Jim Crow laws that segregated transportation, public facilities and daily life. Finally, racial violence in the form of lynchings
and race riots
increased in frequency, reaching a peak in the last decade of the century.
The last black congressman elected from the South in the nineteenth century was George Henry White
of North Carolina
, elected in 1896 and re-elected in 1898. His term expired in 1901, the same year that William McKinley
, the last president to have fought in the Civil War, died. No blacks served in Congress for the next 28 years, and none represented any southern state for the next 72 years.
of blacks from the rural south to northern cities such as New York
, Philadelphia, Chicago
, Detroit, and Cleveland from 1910 to 1940 began to produce black-majority Congressional districts in the North. Blacks could exercise their right to vote. In the two waves of the Great Migration, more than six and a half million blacks moved north and west and became highly urbanized.
In 1928, Oscar De Priest won the 1st Congressional District of Illinois
(the South Side of Chicago
) as a Republican, becoming the first black Congressman of the modern era. DePriest was also the last black Republican in the House for 56 years.
The election of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
in 1932 led to a shift of black voting loyalties from Republican to Democrat, as Roosevelt's New Deal
programs offered economic relief to people suffering from the Great Depression
. From 1940 to 1970, nearly five million blacks moved north and also west, especially to California
, in the second wave of the Great Migration. By the 1960s, virtually all black voters were Democrats and most were voting in states outside the former Confederacy.
It was not until passage through Congress of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, recognizing years of effort on the part of African Americans and allies in the Civil Rights Movement, that blacks within the Southern states recovered their ability to exercise their rights to vote and to live with full civil rights. Legal segregation ended. Accomplishing voter registration and redistricting to implement the sense of the law took more time.
The only Southern cities to have black majority districts were Atlanta, Houston, Memphis
and New Orleans. The only Southern rural area to have a black majority district was the Mississippi Delta
area in Mississippi
.
Until 1992, most black House members were elected from inner-city districts in the North and West: Baltimore, Chicago
, Cleveland
, Detroit, Los Angeles
, New York City
, Newark, New Jersey
, Philadelphia and St. Louis
all elected at least one black member. Following the 1990 census
, Congressional districts needed to be redrawn due to the population shifts of the country. Various federal court decisions resulted in states' creating districts to provide for some where the majority of the population were African Americans, rather than gerrymandering
to exclude black majorities.
Historically, both parties have used gerrymandering to gain political advantage, by drawing districts to favor their own party. In this case, some districts were created to link widely separated black communities. As a result, several black Democratic members of the House were elected from Alabama
, Florida
, rural Georgia
, rural Louisiana
, North Carolina
, South Carolina
and Virginia
for the first time since Reconstruction. Additional black majority districts were also created in this way in California
, Maryland
and Texas
, thus increasing the number of black-majority districts.
The creation of black-majority districts was a process supported by both parties. The Democrats saw it as a means of providing social justice, as well as connecting easily to black voters who had been voting Democratic for decades. The Republicans believed they gained by the change, as many of the Democratic voters were moved out of historically Republican-majority districts. Other demographic and cultural changes resulted in the Republicans' holding a majority of white-majority House districts by 2000.
Since the 1940s, when decades of the Great Migration resulted in millions of African Americans having migrated from the South, no state has had a majority of African-American residents. Because of this, an African-American candidate cannot rely on the black vote alone to be elected to the Senate. The candidate must reach out to other races and groups to become elected to the United States Senate
and to many congressional seats. Four African Americans have served in the Senate since the 1940s: Edward W. Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts
; and Carol Moseley Braun
, Barack Obama
, and Roland Burris
(appointed to a vacancy) – all Democrats from Illinois
.
In the last several decades, numerous African Americans have created similar multi-racial coalitions to be elected as mayors of cities (including those without a black majority). (See List of first African-American mayors.)
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
during the Reconstruction Era following the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
after slaves were emancipated and granted citizenship rights. Freedmen gained political representation in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
for the first time. The Compromise of 1877
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Corrupt Bargain, refers to a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election and ended Congressional Reconstruction. Through it, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J...
initiated the period that followed, known as Redemption among white southerners. Conservative, mostly white Democrats regained political power in state legislatures across the South and worked to restore white supremacy. State legislatures reduced voting by blacks by passing more restrictive electoral and voter registration rules, amending constitutions to the same ends from 1890–1910, and passing Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
to establish racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
and restrict labor rights, movement and organizing by blacks. The Democratic Party essentially dominated the "Solid South
Solid South
Solid South is the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877, the end of Reconstruction, to 1964, during the middle of the Civil Rights era....
" until the 1960s. As a result of the African-American Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, the US Congress passed laws to end segregation and protect civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and voting rights.
During two waves of massive migration
Great Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
within the United States in the first half of the 20th century, more than 6 million African Americans moved from the South to northern and midwestern
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
industrial cities. Some were elected to national political office from their new locations. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, many black voters switched allegiances from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, in support of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
economic, social network, and work policies of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's administration. This trend continued in the 1960s. At the same time, there was a different movement among whites in the South, who began to vote for Republican candidates for national and then state offices.
A total of 123 African Americans have served in the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, most in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. This includes five non-voting members of the House of Representatives, who represented the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. An additional House candidate was elected in 1868 but was not seated due to an election dispute.
Six African Americans have served in the U.S. Senate, two in the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
from Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
during the Reconstruction Era and four more recently: three Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
(including Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
) and one Republican from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Reconstruction and Redemption
The right of blacks to vote and to serve in the United States CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
was established after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
by amendments to the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The Thirteenth Amendment
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
(ratified December 6, 1865), abolished slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. The Fourteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
(ratified July 9, 1868) made all people born or naturalized in the United States citizens. The Fifteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"...
(ratified February 3, 1870) forbade the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and gave Congress the power to enforce the law by appropriate legislation.
In 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act
Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866, , enacted April 9, 1866, is a federal law in the United States that was mainly intended to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, in the wake of the American Civil War...
and the Reconstruction Act
Reconstruction Act
After the end of the Civil War, as part of the on-going process of Reconstruction, the United States Congress passed four statutes known as Reconstruction Acts...
, which dissolved all governments in the former Confederate states
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
with the exception of Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. It divided the South into five military districts, where the military through the Freedmen's Bureau helped protect the rights and safety of newly freed blacks. The act required that the former Confederate states ratify their constitutions conferring citizenship rights on blacks or forfeit their representation in Congress.
As a result of these measures, blacks acquired the right to vote across the Southern states. In several states (notably Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
), blacks were the majority of the population. By forming coalitions with pro-Union whites, Republicans took control of the state legislatures. At the time, state legislatures elected the members of the US Senate. During Reconstruction, only the state legislature of Mississippi elected a black senator. On February 25, 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels
Hiram Rhodes Revels
Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. Because he preceded any African American in the House, he was the first African American in the U.S. Congress as well. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction...
was elected the first black member of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, becoming also the first black member of the Congress.
Blacks were a majority of the population in many congressional districts across the South. In 1870, Joseph Rainey
Joseph Rainey
Joseph Hayne Rainey was the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representatives, the second black person to serve in the United States Congress Joseph Hayne Rainey (June 21, 1832 – August 1, 1887) was the first African American to serve in the United States House of...
of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
was elected to the US House of Representatives, becoming the first directly elected black member of Congress. Freedmen were elected to national office also from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
All of these Reconstruction era black senators and representatives were members of the Republican Party. The Republicans represented the party of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
and of emancipation. The Southern Democrats represented the party of planters, slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
and secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
.
From 1868, southern elections were accompanied by increasing violence, especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and the Carolinas. In the mid-1870s, paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
groups such as the White League
White League
The White League was a white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political organizing. Its first chapter in Grant Parish, Louisiana was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the...
and Red Shirts worked openly to turn Republicans out of office and intimidate blacks from voting. This followed on the earlier years of secret vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
action by the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
against freedmen and allied whites.
After the disputed Presidential election of 1876
United States presidential election, 1876
The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed and controversial presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes uncounted...
between Democratic Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel J. Tilden
Samuel Jones Tilden was the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in the disputed election of 1876, one of the most controversial American elections of the 19th century. He was the 25th Governor of New York...
, governor of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the 19th President of the United States . As president, he oversaw the end of Reconstruction and the United States' entry into the Second Industrial Revolution...
, governor of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, a national agreement between Democratic and Republican factions was negotiated, resulting in the Compromise of 1877
Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877, also known as the Corrupt Bargain, refers to a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election and ended Congressional Reconstruction. Through it, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J...
. Under the compromise, Democrats conceded the election to Hayes and promised to acknowledge the political rights of blacks; Republicans agreed to no longer intervene in southern affairs and promised to appropriate a portion of federal monies toward southern projects.
Disfranchisement
With the southern states "redeemed", Democrats gradually regained control of Southern legislatures. They proceeded to restrict the rights of most blacks and many poor whites to vote by imposing new requirements for poll taxes, subjective literacy tests, more strict residency requirements and other elements difficult for laborers to satisfy.By the 1880s legislators increased restrictions on black voters through voter registration and election rules. Nonetheless, in 1888 John Mercer Langston
John Mercer Langston
John Mercer Langston was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist. He was the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University. In 1888 he was the first African...
, president of Virginia State University
Virginia State University
Virginia State University is a historically black and land-grant university located north of the Appomattox River in Chesterfield, in the Richmond area. Founded on , Virginia State was the United States's first fully state-supported four-year institution of higher learning for black Americans...
at Petersburg
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
, was elected to the US Congress as the first African American from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
(and the last for nearly a century.)
From 1890 to 1908, starting with Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, white Democrats passed new constitutions in ten Southern states with provisions that restricted voter registration and forced hundreds of thousands of people from registration rolls. These changes effectively prevented most blacks and many poor whites from voting. Many whites who were also illiterate were exempted from literacy tests by such strategies as the grandfather clause
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
, basing eligibility on an ancestor's status as of 1866, for instance.
Southern state and local legislatures went on to pass Jim Crow laws that segregated transportation, public facilities and daily life. Finally, racial violence in the form of lynchings
Lynching in the United States
Lynching, the practice of killing people by extrajudicial mob action, occurred in the United States chiefly from the late 18th century through the 1960s. Lynchings took place most frequently in the South from 1890 to the 1920s, with a peak in the annual toll in 1892.It is associated with...
and race riots
Mass racial violence in the United States
Mass racial violence, also called race riots can include such disparate events as:* attacks on Irish Catholics, the Chinese and other immigrants in the 19th century....
increased in frequency, reaching a peak in the last decade of the century.
The last black congressman elected from the South in the nineteenth century was George Henry White
George Henry White
George Henry White was a Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1897 and 1901. He is considered the last African American Congressman of the Reconstruction era, although his election came twenty years after the era's "official" end...
of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, elected in 1896 and re-elected in 1898. His term expired in 1901, the same year that William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
, the last president to have fought in the Civil War, died. No blacks served in Congress for the next 28 years, and none represented any southern state for the next 72 years.
The modern era
The Great MigrationGreat Migration (African American)
The Great Migration was the movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970. Some historians differentiate between a Great Migration , numbering about 1.6 million migrants, and a Second Great Migration , in which 5 million or more...
of blacks from the rural south to northern cities such as New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Philadelphia, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Detroit, and Cleveland from 1910 to 1940 began to produce black-majority Congressional districts in the North. Blacks could exercise their right to vote. In the two waves of the Great Migration, more than six and a half million blacks moved north and west and became highly urbanized.
In 1928, Oscar De Priest won the 1st Congressional District of Illinois
Illinois' 1st congressional district
Illinois's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. Based in Cook County, the district includes much of the South Side of Chicago, extending into the city's southwest suburbs until reaching the border of Will County, and covers , making it one of the 40...
(the South Side of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
) as a Republican, becoming the first black Congressman of the modern era. DePriest was also the last black Republican in the House for 56 years.
The election of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
in 1932 led to a shift of black voting loyalties from Republican to Democrat, as Roosevelt's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
programs offered economic relief to people suffering from the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. From 1940 to 1970, nearly five million blacks moved north and also west, especially to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in the second wave of the Great Migration. By the 1960s, virtually all black voters were Democrats and most were voting in states outside the former Confederacy.
It was not until passage through Congress of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, recognizing years of effort on the part of African Americans and allies in the Civil Rights Movement, that blacks within the Southern states recovered their ability to exercise their rights to vote and to live with full civil rights. Legal segregation ended. Accomplishing voter registration and redistricting to implement the sense of the law took more time.
The only Southern cities to have black majority districts were Atlanta, Houston, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and New Orleans. The only Southern rural area to have a black majority district was the Mississippi Delta
Mississippi Delta
The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. The region has been called "The Most Southern Place on Earth" because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history...
area in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
.
Until 1992, most black House members were elected from inner-city districts in the North and West: Baltimore, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Detroit, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, Philadelphia and St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
all elected at least one black member. Following the 1990 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Congressional districts needed to be redrawn due to the population shifts of the country. Various federal court decisions resulted in states' creating districts to provide for some where the majority of the population were African Americans, rather than gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
In the process of setting electoral districts, gerrymandering is a practice that attempts to establish a political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating geographic boundaries to create partisan, incumbent-protected districts...
to exclude black majorities.
Historically, both parties have used gerrymandering to gain political advantage, by drawing districts to favor their own party. In this case, some districts were created to link widely separated black communities. As a result, several black Democratic members of the House were elected from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, rural Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, rural Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
for the first time since Reconstruction. Additional black majority districts were also created in this way in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, thus increasing the number of black-majority districts.
The creation of black-majority districts was a process supported by both parties. The Democrats saw it as a means of providing social justice, as well as connecting easily to black voters who had been voting Democratic for decades. The Republicans believed they gained by the change, as many of the Democratic voters were moved out of historically Republican-majority districts. Other demographic and cultural changes resulted in the Republicans' holding a majority of white-majority House districts by 2000.
Since the 1940s, when decades of the Great Migration resulted in millions of African Americans having migrated from the South, no state has had a majority of African-American residents. Because of this, an African-American candidate cannot rely on the black vote alone to be elected to the Senate. The candidate must reach out to other races and groups to become elected to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
and to many congressional seats. Four African Americans have served in the Senate since the 1940s: Edward W. Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
; and Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun is an American feminist politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and to date only African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an...
, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, and Roland Burris
Roland Burris
Roland Wallace Burris is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party....
(appointed to a vacancy) – all Democrats from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
In the last several decades, numerous African Americans have created similar multi-racial coalitions to be elected as mayors of cities (including those without a black majority). (See List of first African-American mayors.)
In Reconstruction era
| Senator | Party | State | Term | Lifespan | Former slave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiram Rhodes Revels Hiram Rhodes Revels Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. Because he preceded any African American in the House, he was the first African American in the U.S. Congress as well. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction... |
Republican | Mississippi | 1870–1871 | 1827–1901 | No |
| Blanche Bruce Blanche Bruce Blanche Kelso Bruce was a U.S. politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to 1881 and was the first elected African-American senator to serve a full term. Hiram R. Revels, also of Mississippi, was the first to ever serve in the U.S... |
Republican | Mississippi | 1875–1881 | 1841–1898 | Yes |
In modern era
| Senator | Party | State | Term | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward William Brooke, III | Republican | Massachusetts | 1967–1979 | 1919– |
| Carol Moseley Braun Carol Moseley Braun Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun is an American feminist politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and to date only African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1993–1999 | 1947– |
| Barack Obama Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in... |
Democrat | Illinois | 2005–2008 | 1961– |
| Roland Burris Roland Burris Roland Wallace Burris is a former United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Illinois | 2009–2010 | 1937– |
In Reconstruction era
| Representative | Party | State | Term | Lifespan | Former slave |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Willis Menard John Willis Menard John Willis Menard was the first African American elected to the United States Congress.Menard was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, to parents of Louisiana Creole descent from New Orleans who were free people of color. He may have been related to Michel Branamour Menard, a French-Canadian fur trader... |
Republican | Louisiana | 1868 | 1838–1893 | No |
| Joseph Rainey Joseph Rainey Joseph Hayne Rainey was the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representatives, the second black person to serve in the United States Congress Joseph Hayne Rainey (June 21, 1832 – August 1, 1887) was the first African American to serve in the United States House of... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1870–1879 | 1832–1887 | Yes |
| Jefferson F. Long Jefferson F. Long Jefferson Franklin Long was an American politician from Georgia. He was the first African American from Georgia to be elected to the United States House of Representatives.... |
Republican | Georgia | 1870–1871 | 1836–1901 | Yes |
| Robert C. De Large | Republican | South Carolina | 1871–1873 | 1842–1874 | No |
| Robert B. Elliott Robert B. Elliott Robert Brown Elliott was an African-American member of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1871-1874.-Early life and education:... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1871–1874 | 1842–1884 | No |
| Benjamin S. Turner Benjamin S. Turner Benjamin Sterling Turner was a US Congress Representative from Alabama.... |
Republican | Alabama | 1871–1873 | 1825–1894 | Yes |
| Josiah T. Walls Josiah T. Walls Josiah Thomas Walls was a United States Congressman who served three separate terms in Congress between 1871 and 1876.- Early life :... |
Republican | Florida | 1871–1873, 1873–1876 | 1842–1905 | Yes |
| Richard H. Cain Richard H. Cain Richard Harvey Cain was a minister, abolitionist, and United States Representative from South Carolina from 1873–1875 and 1877-1879... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1873–1875, 1877–1879 | 1825–1887 | No |
| John R. Lynch John R. Lynch John Roy Lynch was the first African-American Speaker of the House in Mississippi. He was also one of the first African-Americans elected to the U.S House of Representatives during Reconstruction, the period in United States history after the Civil War.-Biography:Lynch was born a slave near... |
Republican | Mississippi | 1873–1877, 1882–1883 | 1847–1939 | Yes |
| James T. Rapier James T. Rapier James Thomas Rapier was a United States Representative from 1873 until 1875. He was one of Alabama's three black congressmen during Reconstruction.... |
Republican | Alabama | 1873–1875 | 1837–1883 | No |
| Alonzo J. Ransier Alonzo J. Ransier Alonzo Jacob Ransier was an African-American politician in South Carolina. He was the state's first black lieutenant governor and later was a Republican United States Congressman from 1873 until 1875.... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1873–1875 | 1834–1882 | No |
| Jeremiah Haralson Jeremiah Haralson Jeremiah Haralson , was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama.-Early life and education:Born on a plantation near Columbus, Georgia, he was raised as a slave and was self-educated. He moved to Alabama and engaged in agricultural pursuits... |
Republican | Alabama | 1875–1877 | 1846–1916 | Yes |
| John Adams Hyman John Adams Hyman John Adams Hyman was a Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina from 1875 to 1877.Born a slave near Warrenton, North Carolina, Hyman was sold to a new master in Alabama in 1861 after it was discovered that he was attempting to educate himself... |
Republican | North Carolina | 1875–1877 | 1840–1891 | Yes |
| Charles E. Nash Charles E. Nash Charles Edmund Nash served a single two-year term in the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana.... |
Republican | Louisiana | 1875–1877 | 1844–1913 | No |
| Robert Smalls Robert Smalls Robert Smalls was an enslaved African American who, during and after the American Civil War, became a ship's pilot, sea captain, and politician. He freed himself and his family from slavery on May 13, 1862, by commandeering a Confederate transport ship, the Planter, to freedom in Charleston harbor... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1875–1879, 1882–1883, 1884–1887 | 1839–1915 | Yes |
| James E. O'Hara James E. O'Hara James Edward O'Hara was an African American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1883 to 1887, representing North Carolina during part of the Reconstruction era.... |
Republican | North Carolina | 1883–1887 | 1844–1905 | No |
| Henry P. Cheatham Henry P. Cheatham Henry Plummer Cheatham was an African American Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1889 to 1893.-Early life:... |
Republican | North Carolina | 1889–1893 | 1857–1935 | Yes |
| John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston John Mercer Langston was an American abolitionist, attorney, educator, and political activist. He was the first dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University. In 1888 he was the first African... |
Republican | Virginia | 1890–1891 | 1829–1897 | No |
| Thomas E. Miller Thomas E. Miller Thomas Ezekiel Miller was an American politician, educator, and lawyer. An African-American from South Carolina, he was a prominent leader in the struggle for civil rights in the American South during and after Reconstruction. He was a school commissioner, state legislator, U.S... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1890–1891 | 1849–1938 | No |
| George W. Murray George W. Murray George Washington Murray was born a slave and served as a Congressman from South Carolina.He was born a slave near Rembert, Sumter County, South Carolina on September 22, 1853. Murray attended the public schools and the University of South Carolina at Columbia for two years... |
Republican | South Carolina | 1893–1895, 1896–1897 | 1853–1926 | Yes |
| George Henry White George Henry White George Henry White was a Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1897 and 1901. He is considered the last African American Congressman of the Reconstruction era, although his election came twenty years after the era's "official" end... |
Republican | North Carolina | 1897–1901 | 1852–1918 | No |
In modern era
| Representative | Party | State | Term | Lifespan | Reason for leaving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Stanton De Priest Oscar Stanton De Priest Oscar Stanton De Priest was an American lawmaker and civil rights advocate who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1929 to 1935. He was the first African American to be elected to Congress in the 20th century.... |
Republican | Illinois | 1929–1935 | 1871–1951 | Lost re-election |
| Arthur W. Mitchell Arthur W. Mitchell Arthur Wergs Mitchell was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Mitchell was the first African American to be elected to the United States Congress as a Democrat.... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1935–1943 | 1883–1968 | Retired |
| William L. Dawson | Democrat | Illinois | 1943–1970 | 1886–1970 | Died in Office |
| Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was an American politician and pastor who represented Harlem, New York City, in the United States House of Representatives . He was the first person of African-American descent elected to Congress from New York and became a powerful national politician... |
Democrat | New York | 1945–1967, 1967–1971 | 1908–1972 | Lost renomination |
| Charles Diggs Charles Diggs Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. was an African-American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. Diggs was an early member of the civil rights movement, having been present at the murder trial of Emmett Till and elected the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.Diggs resigned from the... |
Democrat | Michigan | 1955–1980 | 1922–1998 | Censured, resigned and jailed for three years for mail fraud |
| Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. was the first African American to represent Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives. The Robert N.C... |
Democrat | Pennsylvania | 1958–1979 | 1898–1987 | Lost renomination |
| Augustus F. Hawkins Augustus F. Hawkins Augustus Freeman "Gus" Hawkins was a prominent African American Democratic Party politician and a figure in the history of Civil Rights and organized labor. He served as the first African American from California in the United States Congress, where he sponsored the Humphrey-Hawkins Full... |
Democrat | California | 1963–1991 | 1907–2007 | Retired |
| John Conyers John Conyers John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | Michigan | 1965–present | 1929– | |
| Bill Clay Bill Clay William Lacy "Bill" Clay, Sr. is a politician from the state of Missouri. As Congressman from Missouri's First District, he represented portions of St. Louis in the U.S. House of Representatives for 32 years.... |
Democrat | Missouri | 1969–2001 | 1931– | Retired |
| Louis Stokes Louis Stokes Louis Stokes is a Democratic politician from Ohio. He served in the United States House of Representatives.... |
Democrat | Ohio | 1969–1999 | 1925– | Retired |
| Shirley Chisholm Shirley Chisholm Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was an American politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York's 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to Congress... |
Democrat | New York | 1969–1983 | 1924–2005 | Retired |
| George W. Collins George W. Collins George Washington Collins was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois.Collins was born in Chicago, and served with the Army engineers in the South Pacific during World War II... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1970–1972 | 1925–1972 | Died in Office |
| Ron Dellums Ron Dellums Ronald Vernie "Ron" Dellums served as Oakland's forty-fifth mayor. From 1971 to 1998, he was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S... |
Democrat | California | 1971–1998 | 1935– | Resigned |
| Ralph Metcalfe Ralph Metcalfe Ralph Harold Metcalfe was an African-American athlete and politician who came second to Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Metcalfe jointly held the world record for the 100 meter sprint. Metcalfe was known as the world’s fastest human from 1932 through 1934... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1971–1978 | 1910–1978 | Died in Office |
| Parren Mitchell Parren Mitchell Parren James Mitchell , a Democrat, was a U.S. Congressman who represented the 7th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1987. He was the first African-American elected to Congress from Maryland.... |
Democrat | Maryland | 1971–1987 | 1922–2007 | Retired to run unsuccessfully as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland Lieutenant Governor of Maryland The Lieutenant Governor of Maryland is the second highest ranking official in the executive branch of the state government of Maryland in the United States. He or she is elected on the same ticket as the Governor of Maryland and must meet the same qualifications.The current Lieutenant Governor is... |
| Charles B. Rangel Charles B. Rangel Charles Bernard "Charlie" Rangel is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the third-longest currently serving member of the House of Representatives. As its most senior member, he is also the Dean of New York's congressional delegation... |
Democrat | New York | 1971–present | 1930– | |
| Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Yvonne Brathwaite Burke Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is a politician from Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. She was the Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the 2nd District . She has served as the Chair three times . She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress... |
Democrat | California | 1973–1979 | 1932– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as Attorney General of California |
| Cardiss Collins Cardiss Collins Cardiss H. Collins, originally Cardiss Robertson, is a Democratic politician from Illinois who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1997... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1973–1997 | 1931– | Retired |
| Barbara Jordan Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan was an American politician who was both a product and a leader, of the Civil Rights movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives... |
Democrat | Texas | 1973–1979 | 1936–1996 | Retired |
| Andrew Young Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young is an American politician, diplomat, activist and pastor from Georgia. He has served as Mayor of Atlanta, a Congressman from the 5th district, and United States Ambassador to the United Nations... |
Democrat | Georgia | 1973–1977 | 1932– | Resigned to become the United States Ambassador to the United Nations United States Ambassador to the United Nations The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador... |
| Harold Ford, Sr. Harold Ford, Sr. Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing the Memphis, Tennessee area for ten terms—from 1975 until his retirement in 1997. He was the first African-American to represent Tennessee in the U.S... |
Democrat | Tennessee | 1975–1997 | 1945– | Retired |
| Julian C. Dixon Julian C. Dixon Julian Carey Dixon was an American politician from the state of California.Dixon was born in Washington D.C. and served in the United States Army from 1957 to 1960. He graduated from California State University, Los Angeles in 1962. He was elected to the California State Assembly as a Democrat in... |
Democrat | California | 1979–2000 | 1934–2000 | Died in Office |
| William H. Gray, III | Democrat | Pennsylvania | 1979–1991 | 1941– | Resigned |
| Mickey Leland Mickey Leland George Thomas "Mickey" Leland was an anti-poverty activist who later became a congressman from the Texas 18th District and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus... |
Democrat | Texas | 1979–1989 | 1944–1989 | Died in Office |
| Bennett M. Stewart | Democrat | Illinois | 1979–1981 | 1912–1988 | Lost renomination |
| George W. Crockett, Jr. | Democrat | Michigan | 1980–1991 | 1909–1997 | Retired |
| Mervyn M. Dymally Mervyn M. Dymally Mervyn Malcolm Dymally is a California Democratic politician of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian heritage. He served in the California State Assembly and the California State Senate , as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of California , and in the U.S. House of Representatives... |
Democrat | California | 1981–1993 | 1926– | Retired |
| Gus Savage Gus Savage Augustus Alexander "Gus" Savage is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois.... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1981–1993 | 1925– | Lost renomination |
| Harold Washington Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Early years and military service :... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1981–1983 | 1922–1987 | Resigned to become Mayor of Chicago Mayor of Chicago The Mayor of Chicago is the chief executive of Chicago, Illinois, the third largest city in the United States. He or she is charged with directing city departments and agencies, and with the advice and consent of the Chicago City Council, appoints department and agency leaders.-Appointment... |
| Katie Hall Katie Hall Katie Beatrice Hall , served as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1982 to 1985. She was born Katie Beatrice Green in Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Mississippi. She attended the public schools of Mound Bayou. Hall received a B.S. from Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Mississippi... |
Democrat | Indiana | 1982–1985 | 1938– | Lost renomination |
| Major Owens Major Owens Major Robert Odell Owens is a New York politician and a prominent member of the Democratic Party. He is also a former Congressman, having represented the state's 11th Congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. He retired at the end of his term in January 2007 and was... |
Democrat | New York | 1983–2007 | 1936– | Retired |
| Ed Towns Ed Towns Edolphus "Ed" Towns is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1983, and the former Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | New York | 1983–present | 1934– | |
| Alan Wheat Alan Wheat Alan Dupree Wheat is an American politician from the state of Missouri.-Early life:Wheat graduated from Grinnell College in 1972 and served in the Missouri General Assembly from 1977 to 1982... |
Democrat | Missouri | 1983–1995 | 1951– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as U.S. Senator United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each... from Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It... |
| Charles Hayes | Democrat | Illinois | 1983–1993 | 1918–1997 | Lost renomination |
| Alton R. Waldon, Jr. Alton R. Waldon, Jr. Alton R. Waldon, Jr. was a Representative from New York. He was born in Lakeland, Florida on December 21, 1936. He graduated from Boys High School in Brooklyn, New York in 1954 and went on to earn a B.S. from John Jay College in New York City in 1968 and a J.D. from New York Law School in New... |
Democrat | New York | 1986–1987 | 1936– | Lost renomination |
| Mike Espy Mike Espy Alphonso Michael "Mike" Espy is a former United States political figure. From 1987 to 1993, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi. He served as the Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 1994. He was the first African American Secretary of Agriculture... |
Democrat | Mississippi | 1987–1993 | 1953– | Resigned to become the United States Secretary of Agriculture United States Secretary of Agriculture The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other... |
| Floyd H. Flake Floyd H. Flake Floyd Harold Flake is the senior pastor of the 23,000 member Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens, New York, and president of Wilberforce University... |
Democrat | New York | 1987–1998 | 1945– | Retired |
| John Lewis John Lewis (politician) John Robert Lewis is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. He was a leader in the American Civil Rights Movement and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , playing a key role in the struggle to end segregation... |
Democrat | Georgia | 1987–present | 1940– | |
| Kweisi Mfume Kweisi Mfume Kweisi Mfume is the former President/CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People , as well as a five-term Democratic Congressman from Maryland's 7th congressional district, serving in the 100th through 104th Congress... |
Democrat | Maryland | 1987–1996 | 1948– | Retired |
| Donald M. Payne Donald M. Payne Donald Milford "Don" Payne is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1989. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district encompasses most of the city of Newark, parts of Jersey City and Elizabeth, and some suburban communities in Essex and Union counties... |
Democrat | New Jersey | 1989–present | 1934– | |
| Craig Anthony Washington Craig Anthony Washington Craig Anthony Washington is a former American congressman representing Texas as a Democrat in the United States House of Representatives.... |
Democrat | Texas | 1989–1995 | 1941– | Lost renomination |
| Barbara-Rose Collins Barbara-Rose Collins Barbara-Rose Collins is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.According to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress , Collins, was:... |
Democrat | Michigan | 1991–1997 | 1939– | Lost renomination |
| Gary Franks Gary Franks Gary A. Franks was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Connecticut for six years, from 1991 until 1997. He was the first and to date only African-American elected to Congress from Connecticut.-Early life:... |
Republican | Connecticut | 1991–1997 | 1953– | Lost re-election |
| William J. Jefferson William J. Jefferson William Jennings "Bill" Jefferson is a former American politician, and a published author from the U.S. state of Louisiana. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented , which includes much of the... |
Democrat | Louisiana | 1991–2009 | 1947– | Lost re-election and was sentenced to 13 years for bribery after a corruption investigation William J. Jefferson corruption case The corruption case against Louisiana politician, and author William J. Jefferson started on a suspicion of bribery. The FBI raided his Congressional offices in May 2006, but he was re-elected later that year. On June 4, 2007, a federal grand jury indicted Jefferson on sixteen charges related to... |
| Maxine Waters Maxine Waters Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | California | 1991–present | 1938– | |
| Lucien E. Blackwell Lucien E. Blackwell Lucien Edward Blackwell was a United States Congressman who represented West Philadelphia and parts of Delaware County, Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995. He was a Democrat.-Early life:... |
Democrat | Pennsylvania | 1991–1995 | 1931–2003 | Lost renomination |
| Eva M. Clayton Eva M. Clayton Eva M. Clayton is a politician from the state of North Carolina.Clayton was born in Savannah, Georgia. She graduated from Johnson C. Smith University with a bachelor's degree and from North Carolina Central University with a master's degree... |
Democrat | North Carolina | 1992–2003 | 1934– | |
| Sanford Bishop Sanford Bishop Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district is located in the southwestern part of the state and includes Albany, Thomasville and most of Columbus.... |
Democrat | Georgia | 1993–present | 1947– | |
| Corrine Brown Corrine Brown Corrine Brown is an U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes parts of Duval, Clay, Putnam, Alachua, Volusia, Marion, Lake, Seminole, and Orange Counties.... |
Democrat | Florida | 1993–present | 1946– | |
| Jim Clyburn Jim Clyburn James Enos "Jim" Clyburn is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the Assistant Democratic Leader since 2011. He was previously House Majority Whip, serving in that post from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | South Carolina | 1993–present | 1940– | |
| Cleo Fields Cleo Fields Cleo Fields is a lawyer and politician. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisiana.... |
Democrat | Louisiana | 1993–1997 | 1962– | Retired |
| Alcee Hastings Alcee Hastings Alcee Lamar Hastings is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
Democrat | Florida | 1993–present | 1936– | |
| Earl Hilliard Earl F. Hilliard Earl Frederick Hilliard is a politician from the U.S. state of Alabama.Hilliard was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and graduated from Morehouse College. He was elected as a Democrat to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1974 and served from 1975 until 1981 and in the Alabama Senate from 1981... |
Democrat | Alabama | 1993–2003 | 1942– | Lost renomination |
| Eddie Bernice Johnson Eddie Bernice Johnson Eddie Bernice Johnson is a politician from the state of Texas, currently representing the state's in the United States House of Representatives. She is the first registered nurse elected to the US Congress.... |
Democrat | Texas | 1993–present | 1935– | |
| Cynthia McKinney Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney is a former US Congresswoman and a member of the Green Party since 2007. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms as a member of the United States House of Representatives. In 2008, the Green Party nominated McKinney for President of the United States... |
Democrat | Georgia | 1993–2003, 2005–2007 | 1955– | Lost renomination both times |
| Carrie P. Meek Carrie P. Meek Carrie P. Meek is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida.-Background and early life:Meek, the granddaughter of slaves and daughter of former sharecroppers, was born and raised in segregated Tallahassee, Florida... |
Democrat | Florida | 1993–2003 | 1926– | Retired |
| Mel Reynolds Mel Reynolds Melvin Reynolds is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois. His political career ended in scandal.-Early life:... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1993–1995 | 1952– | Resigned after being convicted of convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography Child pornography Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child... and being sentenced to five years |
| Bobby Rush Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.The district is located principally on the South Side of Chicago. It is a minority-majority district and has a higher percentage of African Americans than any other congressional district in... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1993–present | 1946– | |
| Robert C. Scott Robert C. Scott Robert Cortez "Bobby" Scott is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Virginia | 1993–present | 1947– | |
| Walter Tucker Walter R. Tucker III Walter Rayford Tucker III is a former U.S. Democratic politician from California.Tucker was born in Compton, California, and was scion to a political dynasty known as the "Kennedys of Compton." He is the son of Walter R. Tucker, Jr., a dentist who was mayor of Compton... |
Democrat | California | 1993–1995 | 1957– | Resigned due to scandals involving accepting and demanding bribes while mayor of Compton. Tucker was sentenced to 27 months in prison for extortion and tax evasion |
| Mel Watt Mel Watt Melvin Luther Watt is the United States House of Representatives for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
Democrat | North Carolina | 1993–present | 1945– | |
| Albert Wynn Albert Wynn Albert Russell "Al" Wynn is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented the 4th district of Maryland from 1993 to 2008... |
Democrat | Maryland | 1993–2008 | 1951– | Lost renomination and resigned |
| Bennie Thompson Bennie Thompson Bennie G. Thompson, is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993, and the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security since 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Mississippi | 1993–present | 1948– | |
| Chaka Fattah Chaka Fattah Chaka Fattah is the U.S. representative for , serving since 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | Pennsylvania | 1995–present | 1956– | |
| Sheila Jackson-Lee | Democrat | Texas | 1995–present | 1950– | |
| J. C. Watts | Republican | Oklahoma | 1995–2003 | 1957– | Retired |
| Jesse Jackson, Jr. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Jesse Louis Jackson, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since the special election in 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1995–present | 1965– | |
| Juanita Millender-McDonald Juanita Millender-McDonald Juanita Millender-McDonald was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional district, which includes most of South Central Los Angeles and the city of Long Beach, California... |
Democrat | California | 1996–2007 | 1938–2007 | Died in Office |
| Elijah Cummings Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene Cummings is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1996. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes just over half of Baltimore City, as well as most of Howard County... |
Democrat | Maryland | 1996–present | 1951– | |
| Julia Carson Julia Carson Julia May Carson , born Julia May Porter, was a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 1997 until her death in 2007 . Carson was the first woman and first African American to represent the 7th District... |
Democrat | Indiana | 1997–2007 | 1938–2007 | Died in Office |
| Danny K. Davis Danny K. Davis For other persons named Danny Davis, please see Daniel Davis .Daniel K. Davis is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:... |
Democrat | Illinois | 1997–present | 1941– | |
| Harold Ford, Jr. Harold Ford, Jr. Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. is an American politician and was the last chairman of the now-defunct Democratic Leadership Council . He was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from , centered in Memphis, from 1997 to 2007... |
Democrat | Tennessee | 1997–2007 | 1970– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as U.S. Senator United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each... from Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... |
| Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick Carolyn Jean Cheeks Kilpatrick is an American politician who was U.S. Representative for from 1997 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. In August 2010 she lost the Democratic primary election... |
Democrat | Michigan | 1997–2011 | 1945– | Lost renomination |
| Gregory W. Meeks | Democrat | New York | 1998–present | 1953– | |
| Barbara Lee Barbara Lee Barbara Jean Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1998. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She is the first woman to represent that district. Lee was the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and was the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus... |
Democrat | California | 1998–present | 1946– | |
| Stephanie Tubbs Jones Stephanie Tubbs Jones Stephanie "Tubbs" Jones was a Democratic politician and member of the United States House of Representatives. She represented the 11th District of Ohio, which encompasses most of downtown and eastern Cleveland and many of the eastern suburbs in Cuyahoga County, including Euclid, Cleveland Heights,... |
Democrat | Ohio | 1999–2008 | 1949–2008 | Died in Office |
| William Lacy Clay, Jr. William Lacy Clay, Jr. William Lacy Clay, Jr., usually known as Lacy Clay is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2001. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Missouri | 2001–present | 1956– | |
| Diane Watson Diane Watson Diane Edith Watson is a former US Representative for , serving from 2003 until 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | California | 2001–2011 | 1933– | Retired |
| Frank Ballance Frank Ballance Frank W. Ballance, Jr. , American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 2003 to 2004, representing North Carolina's 1st congressional district and is a convicted felon.-Background:... |
Democrat | North Carolina | 2003–2004 | 1942– | Resigned and was sentenced to four years in prison, two years supervised release, and fined $10,000, for mail fraud and money laudering |
| Artur Davis Artur Davis Artur Genestre Davis is a former member of the United States House of Representatives for , serving from 2003 to 2011 when he was succeeded by Terri Sewell, also a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Alabama | 2003–2011 | 1967– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as Governor of Alabama |
| Denise Majette Denise Majette Denise L. Majette is a Democratic U.S. politician from the state of Georgia.Born in Brooklyn, she attended Yale University and completed a Juris Doctor degree at Duke University in 1979... |
Democrat | Georgia | 2003–2005 | 1955– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as U.S. Senator United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each... from Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... |
| Kendrick Meek Kendrick Meek Kendrick Brett Meek is an American politician who was the U.S. Representative for from 2003 to 2011. He was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 Senate election for the seat of Mel Martinez, but he lost in a three way race to Republican Marco Rubio along with Independent Charlie Crist.-Early life,... |
Democrat | Florida | 2003–2011 | 1966– | Retired to run unsuccessfully as U.S. Senator United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each... from Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... |
| David Scott David Scott (politician) David A. Scott is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2003. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:Scott was born in Aynor, South Carolina and attended high school in Daytona Beach, Florida... |
Democrat | Georgia | 2003–present | 1946– | |
| G. K. Butterfield G. K. Butterfield George Kenneth Butterfield, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2004. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the northeastern corner of the state.-Early life and education:... |
Democrat | North Carolina | 2004–present | 1947– | |
| Emanuel Cleaver Emanuel Cleaver Emanuel Cleaver II is a United Methodist pastor and the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and in January 2010 became chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.... |
Democrat | Missouri | 2005–present | 1944– | |
| Al Green Al Green (politician) Alexander N. "Al" Green is the U.S. Representative from Texas' 9th congressional district . The district includes most of southwestern Houston, including most of that city's share of Fort Bend County. It also includes most of Missouri City.-Early life and career:Green was born in New Orleans,... |
Democrat | Texas | 2005–present | 1947– | |
| Gwen Moore Gwen Moore Gwendolynne Sophia Moore is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2005. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district is based in Milwaukee and also includes South Milwaukee, Cudahy and St. Francis, and part of West Allis. She is the first woman to represent the district... |
Democrat | Wisconsin | 2005–present | 1951– | |
| Yvette D. Clarke Yvette D. Clarke Yvette Diane Clarke is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007, and the Chair of the United States House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, Science and Technology since 2007 as well... |
Democrat | New York | 2007–present | 1964– | |
| Keith Ellison Keith Ellison (politician) Keith Maurice Ellison is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. The district centers on Minneapolis. He was re-elected in 2010. Ellison is a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.He is the first Muslim to be elected to the... |
Democrat | Minnesota | 2007–present | 1963– | |
| Hank Johnson Hank Johnson Henry C. "Hank" Johnson Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is based in DeKalb County, a largely suburban county east of Atlanta. It also includes portions of Gwinnett and Rockdale counties.-Life, education and... |
Democrat | Georgia | 2007–present | 1954– | |
| Laura Richardson Laura Richardson Laura Richardson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district encompasses the inland section of Long Beach, Carson, Compton and Signal Hill, as well as parts of other municipalities.She previously represented the 55th district in the... |
Democrat | California | 2007–present | 1962– | |
| André Carson André Carson André D. Carson is the U.S. Representative for , serving since the special election in 2008. He is a member of the Democratic Party.... |
Democrat | Indiana | 2008–present | 1974– | |
| Donna Edwards Donna Edwards Donna F. Edwards is the U.S. Representative for , serving since a special election in 2008. She is a member of the Democratic Party... |
Democrat | Maryland | 2008–present | 1958– | |
| Marcia Fudge | Democrat | Ohio | 2008–present | 1952– | |
| Karen Bass Karen Bass Karen Ruth Bass is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to her election to Congress in 2010, she had served as a member of the California State Assembly representing the 47th district since 2004... |
Democrat | California | 2011–present | 1953– | |
| Hansen Clarke Hansen Clarke Hansen Hashim Clarke is the U.S. Representative for . Clarke, a Democrat, was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1991 through 1992, and from 1999 through 2002. He then served in the Michigan Senate, representing the 1st District from January 1, 2003 to January 3, 2011. Clarke... |
Democrat | Michigan | 2011–present | 1957– | |
| Cedric Richmond Cedric Richmond Cedric Levon Richmond is the U.S. Representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes most of New Orleans. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:... |
Democrat | Louisiana | 2011–present | 1973– | |
| Tim Scott Tim Scott (politician) Timothy Eugene "Tim" Scott is the U.S. Representative for . Elected in November 2010 to the 112th Congress, he and Allen West of Florida are the first Republican African-American Representatives from the South since Reconstruction, and the first Republican African-American members of Congress... |
Republican | South Carolina | 2011–present | 1965– | |
| Terri Sewell Terri Sewell Terrycina Andrea "Terri" Sewell is the U.S. Representative for . She is a member of the Democratic Party and the first black woman elected to Congress from Alabama... |
Democrat | Alabama | 2011–present | 1965– | |
| Allen West | Republican | Florida | 2011–present | 1961– | |
| Frederica Wilson Frederica Wilson Frederica Wilson is the U.S. Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The seat was left open as the incumbent Kendrick Meek ran for a seat in the Senate.... |
Democrat | Florida | 2011–present | 1942– | |
| Delegate | Party | State | Term | Lifespan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walter E. Fauntroy Walter E. Fauntroy Walter Edward Fauntroy is the former pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and a civil rights activist. He is also a former member of the United States Congress and was a candidate for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination, as well as a human rights activist... |
Democrat | District of Columbia | 1971–1991 | 1933– | Retired |
| Melvin H. Evans Melvin H. Evans Melvin Herbert Evans was the first elected Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, serving from 1969 to 1975. After serving as governor he was delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1981.Evans was born in Christiansted in... |
Republican | Virgin Islands | 1979–1981 | 1917–1984 | Lost re-election |
| Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton is a Delegate to Congress representing the District of Columbia. In her position she is able to serve on and vote with committees, as well as speak from the House floor... |
Democrat | District of Columbia | 1991–present | 1937– | |
| Victor O. Frazer Victor O. Frazer Victor O. Frazer was a Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives. He was born in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. He attended Fisk University and the Howard University Law School. He was admitted to the bar in New York, Maryland, the District of... |
Independent | Virgin Islands | 1995–1997 | 1943– | Lost re-election |
| Donna Christian-Christensen Donna Christian-Christensen Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, formerly Donna Christian-Green , is the non-voting Delegate from the United States Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives .-Early life:... |
Democrat | Virgin Islands | 1997–present | 1945– |
See also
- Congressional Black CaucusCongressional Black CaucusThe Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
External links
- Black Americans in Congress, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
- BlackHistoryDaily.com – African Americans in Government
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report "Black Members of the United States Congress: 1870–2005"