When the next U.S. Congress convenes, there will be 14 women in the Senate, 65 in the House. Not good enough, but up from 2 in the Senate, 21 in the House in 1980. The Senate also will have 1 African-American, 2 Hispanics, and 2 Asian-Americans … up from 0, 0, and 2 in 1980. The House will seat 40 African-Americans, 23 Hispanics, and 5 Asian-Americans … up from 17, 7, and 3.
Could be better. Could be worse. But glacial though it doubtless seems to many, that’s a pretty sizeable shift in a quarter of a century. All you LBJ-bashing, aging hippies … put a flower on the old boy’s grave for the Civil Rights Act, etc. The grand total will be 152 minorities in ’05 (out of 535 total), up from 52 in ’80.