Earlier today, we delivered the below letter to Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader, and Senator-Elect Chris Van Hollen, incoming DSCC Chair regarding the lack of people of color in leadership staff positions in the Senate and the DSCC.

 Senator Schumer and Senator-Elect Van Hollen,

As you prepare to name the next Executive Director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), it is important to keep in mind that this person will need to address serious concerns regarding the lack of diversity within the DSCC and the staffs of Senate Democrats.

We are writing to strongly urge you to hire a person of color who understands the challenges that Democrats in regards to having a staff that reflects the diversity of the Democratic base and understands the needs of our voters. The DSCC remains the only major Democratic campaign committee to not embrace transparency and publicly release statistics showing the level of diversity within its staff, a simple but important step that was undertaken by the DCCC[1], DNC[2], and the Clinton[3] and Sanders[4] campaigns. We suspect that they have not publicly released statistics because they would show that the DSCC’s staff is approximately 80% White.  This is unacceptable in the “big tent” party that proclaims to work for all people.

Even within the Senate, a recent study by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that only 7% of top staffers identify as a person of color[5]. That study comes on the heels of a survey of Black Senate staffers where 74% of respondents said they disapproved or were indifferent to how the Senate and Member offices addressed the needs of Black staffers[6].  It is our current understanding that of all current Democratic Senators’ Chiefs of Staff, that people of color amount to less than 5 total.  It’s time to change this dated culture of exclusion in the United States Senate.

Democrats should lead the way when it comes to having a diverse workplace where all employees feel respected and empowered. Naming a person of color as the next Executive Director of the DSCC would show that Senate Democrats are serious about creating an environment where all staffers and members of the Democratic base feel that they are represented.

 

Respectfully,

Alida Garcia, Executive Director

Inclusv

 

[1] https://www.buzzfeed.com/darrensands/democratic-congressional-committee-releases-new-improved-div

[2] https://www.buzzfeed.com/darrensands/democratic-national-committee-to-release-numbers-on-diversit?utm_term=.phZpZjw9z#.urpVXW73m

[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-has-the-most-diverse-campaign-staff-report-finds_us_55aecd9be4b0a9b94852e873

[4] https://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasquillo/clinton-and-sanders-campaigns-neck-and-neck-on-diversity-hir

[5] http://jointcenter.org/blog/racial-diversity-among-top-senate-staff

[6] http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/black-senate-staffers-push-for-more-diversity