Black Capitol: Race and Power in the Halls of Congress James R. Jones
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Black Capitol: Race and Power in the Halls of Congress James R. Jones III Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2017 © 2017 James R. Jones III All rights reserved ABSTRACT Black Capitol: Understanding Congress as a Raced Political Institution James R. Jones III Black Capitol investigates the persistence of racial inequality in the federal legislative workforce. I frame the existence of racial inequality in Congress not as an outgrowth of certain racist members of Congress, but as a defining characteristic of the institution. I analyze how these disparities are produced by and through an institutional structure formed by race. This leads me to offer the concept of Congress as a raced political institution. I use the term raced political institution to mean institutions, organized for the purposes of government, in which race is embedded in the organizational structure, and is a determining factor of how labor and space is organized on the formal level. In addition, I use the term to informally capture how perceptions of power influence identity construction, interactions, and culture. I build on scholarship from critical race theorists, to argue that Congress is a seminal institution in the American racial state, responsible for structuring race and inequality in American society. From the perspective of Black legislative staff, who currently or previously worked in the Capitol, I assess how the congressional workforce is stratified, how physical space is segregated, and how interactions and identities are racialized. I employ a mixed methods approach, including over 70 semi-structured interviews with current and former legislative employees, archival research, and ethnographic observations of the staff organizations. This analysis contributes to a wide range of scholarly conversations about citizenship, representation, democracy, and bureaucracy. More broadly, this work raises important questions about the distribution of power in the American political system and how inequality in Congress reverberates off of Capitol Hill. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ii List of Figures iii Acknowledgments iv Preface viii Chapter 1: Congress as a Raced Political Institution 1 Chapter 2: The Racial History of the Congressional Workforce 33 Chapter 3 Race and Mobility: Getting In, Moving Up, and Leaving the Congressional Workplace 82 Chapter 4: Race and Identity: Racialized Professionalism 130 Chapter 5: Race and Interactions: The “Black Nod” 177 Chapter 6: Advancing Equality in Raced Political Institutuions in the Post-Racial Epoch 215 References 237 Appendix A: Being in the Field 254 Appendix B: Historical Timeline of African American Congressional Employees and Members of Congress 265 i LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Black participants by political affiliation ...................................................................... 93 Table 2: How staffers got on “The Hill” by race .......................................................................... 95 Table 3: Black and White staffers’ initial position by percentage .............................................. 104 Table 4: Black participants by staffer type and political affiliation ............................................ 116 Table 5 Black participants by staffer type and gender ................................................................ 116 Table 6:Black Seniority and Staffer Type .................................................................................. 117 Table 7: White Seniority and Staffer Type ................................................................................. 118 ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Theory of Racial Structuration ........................................................................................ 7 Figure 2: Theory of the Racial State ............................................................................................... 8 Figure 3 Mills Distribution of American Power ........................................................................... 11 Figure 4 : Racial Epochs of Congress ........................................................................................... 38 Figure 5: Expressions of Racialized Professionalism ................................................................. 147 Figure 6: Congress as a Credentialing Institution ....................................................................... 226 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Alondra Nelson, Diane Vaughan, Thomas DiPrete, Fredrick Harris, and Shamus Khan for their unparalleled mentorship and advising. There have been many days where I wanted to quit or shorten my dissertation, however, Alondra has pushed me to do my very best to complete the strongest version of my future book. She has read many, many drafts and responded with incisive comments that has led to this final product. I am grateful for such intimate mentoring, especially with her busy schedule as a dean and author. Diane has seen this project from its infancy and has been enthusiastic supporter that I could always go to for advice. Meeting with Tom, he has constantly presented me with counterfactuals and new avenues of contemplating my observations giving me the necessary confidence to stand by findings. While I love politics, it should be clear I am a sociologist. To this end, Fred’s expertise in Black politics and political science more broadly has been invaluable for me to ground this work in an interdisciplinary framework. Finally, I am forever grateful to Shamus for always responding to my emails, always agreeing to meet, reading whatever I sent, and just being a friendly face in Knox Hall. Numerous faculty throughout my doctoral program have been instrumental in shaping the contours of this project and my development as a scholar. I thank Carla Shedd, Van Tran, Fred Wherry, Gil Eyal, Sudhir Venkatesh, Josh Whitford, Karen Barkey, Peter Bearman, Mitchell Duneier, Herbert Gans, David Stark, Yinon Cohen, Seymour Spilerman, Kimberley Johnson, Valerie Purdie Vaughans, Mignon Moore, and Yao Lu. I am grateful for the continued support of my undergraduate community at The George Washington University. I thank Daina Eglitis, Derek Hyra, Steve Tuch, Greg Squires, Adele Alexander, and Sarah Binder. iv My graduate student colleagues have been a source of inspiration and true friendship. They have generously provided critical insights throughout the research and writing process. I thank Melissa Valle, Catherine Tan, Olivia Nicol, Joan Robinson, Frank Golom, Jared Conrad Bradshaw, Jose Tomas Atria, Magdalena Gil Ureta, Tolga Kobas, Alix Rule, Beatrice Renault, Rosemary McGunnigle Gonzales, Anna Kaiser, Warren McKinney, Devon Wade, Ifeoma Ajunwa, Heba Goyawed, Nick Occhuito, Phillip Brandt, Kinga Makovi, Abby Coplin, Elif Alp, Dennis Bogusz, Ryan Hagen, Pilar Opazo, Elyakim Kislev, Anthony Urena, Anne Hidalgo, Dialika Sall, Brittany Fox, Nicol Valdez, and Jovonne Bickerstaff. Afton Battle, Jackie Pena Vega, Dora Arenas, Kiamesha Wilson, and Nusaiba Jackson have made my life and many others in the department of sociology at Columbia much easier with their expertise and patience. Thank you. Portions of this research have been presented at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Association of Black Sociologists, American Political Science Association, Aage Sorensen Memorial Conference, Eastern Sociological Society, and National Conference of Black Political Scientists. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. ANWER: DGE- 07-07425, the Dirksen Congressional Center, and Columbia University. This work would not have been possible without the advice, encouragement and occasional editorial assistance of my dearest friends. For many years of friendship, I thank Brian Ackerman, Nisha Ramachandran, Kelly Kit, and Walter Scott Williams. I also thank Jordan Harris, Tiffani Donaldson Berry, Morgan James, Evon Burton, Lauren Underwood, Shanise Bland, Margaret Kamara, Brittany Bass, Lamont Cobb, Williams Sanders, Clermon Acklin, and Robert Zinger. v Support from my family, especially my parents, Marian and James Jones, has sustained me throughout my doctoral journey. In completing this manuscript, I know my achievements are a result of their hard work and numerous sacrifices. My grandfather has been a model of hard work, optimism, and strength for me. Early in my post-secondary education, he provided me with care packages of my favorite hometown treats, including Wawa Iced Teas and Tastykakes, that were the necessary fuel for me to persevere. My grandmothers, Anna Johnson and Thelma Jones, have been the biggest cheerleaders of my life. They have prayed for me, but more importantly, pushed to rely on faith that is bigger than myself. My family’s moral and spiritual teachings are as important to what I have formally learned in elite spaces. It is because of them that I can remain grounded and embrace what I know to be true. My family is too large to individually, but know you were a part of me getting to this moment including my brother Marcus, cousins (Hakim, DJ, Greg, Shaleah, Erin, Kendall), aunts (Kathy and Carol,) and uncles (David and Greg). I especially thank my cousin Joyce Ray, who was the first person to ever suggest I seek a doctoral degree and has been a source of constant positive reassurance during every step. I even thank the furriest members of our clan, Mrs. Carter