What ever happened to that old Republican tradition of tokenism?
Republican House Speaker John Boehner has announced the chairs of all the 19 major House committees next year in Congress, and guess what? They’re all white men. I know. You’re stunned. Let’s do a recap. That’s 19 White Men, 0 white women, 0 men of color, 0 women of color.
While the chairs of committees are usually chosen from seniority, this demographic breakdown says much about the real leadership of the Republican Party. At at time when the Democratic House Caucus has a majority of women and people of color, Republicans couldn’t or wouldn’t find even one leader who wasn’t white and male.
This is very bad news for those who care about issues like choice and affirmative action. I seem to remember a little something about taxation without representation, but women and people of color will be secondary players when their personal lives are discussed this year. But there is good news for you if you are a Republican women or person of color. When the next Republican convention rolls around, you’re going to get really good seats.