by Oduko Chima and Malekee Beals
What is the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)? Several prominent Black politicians wear its membership a a badge of honor, a sign that they are truly up there to represent the masses of Black people and fight for us! Well, let’s take a look at the history of the CBC to see if it truly is representing us; and if not, then what purpose does it serve?
The CBC was established by 13 Black congress members in 1971 during the Nixon presidency. It was created in an effort to bring Black members of congress together. President Nixon initially refused to meet with the CBC, and in response, CBC members boycotted the 1971 State of the Union address. Nixon conceded and agreed to meet with CBC, who presented a letter of 61 recommendations to ‘eradicate racism.’ Black Democrat and founder of the CBC Charles Diggs said that:
“Our people are no longer asking for equality as a rhetorical promise,”… “they are demanding from the national Administration, and from elected officials without regard to party affiliation, the only kind of equality that ultimately has any real meaning—equality of results.”
We will see later on that this radical, demanding rhetoric of the CBC is not an accurate representation of their actions. The CBC has been called the “conscience of congress,” meaning that they are the first to stand up and speak out for what’s right, even if it may be controversial. The CBC “earned” this nickname by urging the US government to cut ties with Apartheid South Africa during the ’70s and ’80s. Their efforts in Congress culminated in the of passing the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 (CAAA), which resulted in some limited economic restrictions on trade with South Africa. President Reagan tried to block the bill, but this was overridden by Congress. This act proved to be not that effective in helping Black South Africans gain their freedom, though. Three years after it was passed, the General Accounting Office, a government oversight organization, reported that these sanctions were only partially enforced by the US In 1989. The real struggle that overturned Apartheid wasn’t found in the halls of the White House, but in the streets of the ghettos in South Africa, where thousands of Black people fought tooth and nail against a police force armed to the teeth and supported by a large population of White settlers.
Nowadays, the CBC spends its time campaigning for Kamala Harris, the current Democratic presidential candidate who was raised by a wealthy Indian Brahmin family of professors and scientists. Harris, a former member of the CBC, is having her campaign treated as “progressive” by the ruling class on the basis of her potentially being the first Black woman president. Harris’ record suggests otherwise, as she was a former prosecutor and district attorney, and is well known for her enforcement and support of policies that led to 2,000 Californians being charged with Marijuana possession.
On top of being silent on Harris’ record during her time as a prosecutor, the CBC has been completely silent on the genocide in Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza painted murals in solidarity and in honor of the protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020, yet our alleged “representatives” can’t even muster a sentence to denounce the slaughter of 48,000 Palestinians! Hamas leader himself Yahya Sinwar spoke to the murder of George Floyd and said that the same racism that Black people in the US face is the same racism that is murdering Palestinians. Why is our “conscience of congress” so silent in the face of blatant atrocities against oppressed people? Why speak up against Apartheid South Africa but not against Apartheid Israel? Israel has killed more Palestinians in the past four months than South Africa murdered during its 40-year reign of oppression, yet the CBC has actually denounced the Palestinian resistance and reaffirmed its support for Israel. If the CBC were around during Haitian revolution, they would’ve denounced them as “terrorists” conducting “brutal attacks.”
As always, the answer boils down to money; particularly the funding that the CBC receives. The CBC’s major donors are largely those that are aligned the Democratic Party’s, primarily those in the financial and technology sectors. According to the CBC’s Annual Report from 2022, the organization had $31.9 million in gross (total) assets as of 2022, and $20.8 million net (after spending) assets. Members of the organization who are not house representatives are administrators from technology and insurance/financial management firms. Logistics firms such as Amazon and UPS are represented, as well as industrial manufacturing firms (e.g. Toyota Manufacturing and ExxonMobil). Technology also made up large part of advisory board, which appears to be a driving sector behind the CBC, as the organization admitted one of its goals is to increase “Black representation in the ever-growing technology sector.”
Amazon, the Tracking Foundation (grant donor) and Truist Financial were among the largest donors ($1M to $4M donated). Meta, Johnson & Johnson, State Farm, and Scotts Miracle Gro were in the $300K to $500k range. Other donors were a mix of technology, financial, logistics and industrial capital. Raytheon is listed in the $100k to $299k range which is particularly prescient as it is a weapons manufacturer that has been critical to the supply of weapons to Israel. In sum, there is no more naked of an admission of who the CBC serves than its statement on page 6-7 of the report that “we are accountable to… donors”.
Among these donors is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). In 2022 alone, AIPAC reportedly gave $2.5 million in campaign donations to CBC members. Congressman Raphael Warnock has been an example of AIPAC’s influence on the CBC. Warnock was previously outspoken on Palestine, but after receiving over $900k from AIPAC, he quickly changed his tune. AIPAC funding to CBC members has no doubt increased as the genocide in Gaza has turned even more millions of people against the Israeli state, which means that AIPAC must funnel more money into US politics to make sure the US population does not turn even further against Israel.
The CBC has permanently lost its conscience, that is if it ever had one in the first place. We must question the idea that the CBC believes in: the idea that racism can be “eradicated” by measures taken by the US government, and that Black people can truly become free and successful within American society if you just play it by the book, work within the government, and try to reform away the bad. This perspective on change has never, and will never, work for any group of people, especially our people. Why? When we look at history, we can see that ordinary people fighting for change outside of the pre-established system actually drive change.
For example, let’s look at the Civil Rights movement. We are told in schools that MLK came along one day, peacefully asked the government to protect Black people and stop being racist, and then the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1968, which basically ended the movement. In reality, the Civil Rights movement was an extremely violent movement where our people had to spill blood in droves in fights against the government and its pig force backed up by the Klan and other terrorists. Our leaders were systematically killed, isolated, and bought out to prevent this movement from boiling over. The FBI themselves admitted that the biggest threat to “internal security,” AKA the stability of this exploitative system, was the Black Panther Party, due to their mass reach and militant self-defense.
So why does the CBC exist if it doesn’t represent the best interests of our people and doesn’t actually fight for anything our people need? Simply put: the capitalist system would gladly allow and even support a group of Black politicians that advocate for reforms and changing the system from the inside. This “strategy” (if we can even call it one, since it cannot win!) will not result in any substantial change to the way our people are oppressed, as it refuses the challenge the economic foundation upon which our oppression sits. The CBC are figureheads of a privileged few Black people that are designated misleaders whose sole purpose is to channel our righteous anger into dead-end reform movements that pacify our needs. Malcolm X’s analysis on these misleaders in our community still rings true today:
“There were two kinds of Negroes. There was that old house Negro and the field Negro.
And the house Negro always looked out for his master. When the field Negroes got too much out of line, he held them back in check. He put ’em back on the plantation. The house Negro could afford to do that because he lived better than the field Negro. He ate better, he dressed better, and he lived in a better house. He lived right up next to his master – in the attic or the basement.”
To go back to Apartheid South Africa, this was the exact same tactic used by the ruling class during Apartheid. They had designated Black misleaders that even “controlled” territories! These were called Bantustans (named after the Bantu people in Africa), and these were pockets of Black “controlled” areas that were essentially glorified ghettos, on paper led by Black people but in reality were controlled by the White ruling elite. The CBC are essentially aspiring to become the chief misleaders of our people, selected controlled opposition who want to continue this system of exploitation instead of trying to destroy it.
We have to realize that genuine change will NEVER come from inside this rotten system, we must rely on the masses outside of it to tear it down. The CBC is lauded as the conscience of congress, but Kwame Ture said it best when it comes to trying to reform U.S. Imperialism with these non-confrontational strategies:
“In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.“
Our people need an end to robbery of our communities by this exploitative system, our people need freedom to determine our own destinies. We need the freedom to live without worrying about pigs murdering us at a drop of a hat and getting away with it. These freedoms cannot be realized by our selected misleaders, they can only be realized through the masses of Black people in the US revolting against this system. Elections recycle the energy of those who want liberation into the same dead-end. We must direct our efforts towards organizing ourselves amongst our communities and leading the class struggle in a revolutionary direction, having ordinary people take lead. To be a revolutionary means to actively boycott the US elections, directing our community against this dead-end road of “making change”. We must instead help lead our people down the road of struggle, the long road that will inevitably lead to freedom.
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