Minorites In Congress

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             While Voting Rights legislation had a great impact on changing the composition of Congress, other factors exist as barriers to minority representation in Congress. One of these is the use of single-member districts. Of great debate as to whether it is helping or hindering minority candidates is the establishment of minority districting and the use of racial gerrymandering. The question of constitutionality and these districts has come before the Supreme Court with mixed results. .
             Congress Today.
             How much progress have we made? The 2000 elections introduced the 107th Congress. While the body has diversified, the U.S. Congress remains a largely white male institution. Currently, there are no black or Hispanic senators. Nine percent of House members are black and four percent are Hispanic. For comparison, Blacks comprise thirteen percent of the U.S. population and Hispanics twelve percent. .
             Women historically fare better, particularly in the Senate where they now hold thirteen seats, the most seats in history. The 435-member House has 59 women members, up slightly from the 56 of the 106th Congress. These numbers translate to approximately a fourteen percent membership for women in the House of Representatives. While women have gained seats in Congress, this thirteen/fourteen percent composition is lacking considering women make up about half the population. .
             As society becomes more "minority-aware- a focus has turned on a sections of the population previously hidden or unheard. Three House members are openly gay, and two lawmakers, Senator Max Cleland, and freshman Representative Jim Langevin, both democrats, use wheelchairs. These numbers indicate today's Congressional members are overwhelmingly able-bodied and heterosexual. .
             The Senate is prone to even less diversity with 2001 seeing no change in its minority composition. The Senate's fair-skinned minority population stayed at three: Hawaii's Daniel Akaka, a native Hawaiian; Daniel Inouye, an American of Japanese descent; and Colorado's Ben Nighthorse Campbell, a Native American of the Northern Cheyenne tribe.