Shaun King Shaun King NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Thursday, January 26, 2017, 1:50 PM
Moments ago I received an exciting email announcing that another United States senator had just hired an African-American chief of staff. That may sound like small potatoes, but it’s hands down the most important position you can have in the Senate, and until now, only one other senator had an African-American chief of staff. While this new hire still makes just two, it’s a major sign of progress in what many have called “the whitest place of employment in all of America.”
And, just like in the last update I wrote on this topic a few weeks ago, when I glanced down to see who had finally hired another black senior staffer, I didn’t recognize the name. It was Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas. Never heard of him.
I must confess that my knowledge of the U.S. Senate is limited to pretty much all of the Democrats and the most well known Republicans. The name “Jerry Moran” was new to me. And there it was — just like the last hire of a black senior staffer, this new hire was also done by yet another Republican. After first hiring Brennen Britton as his state director, Britton was just promoted to Moran’s chief of staff.
Sadly, as a lifelong Democrat, the recap that I am about to give you is heartbreaking.
Most senate staffs have four senior staff positions. A few have three. The positions are: chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, communications director and legislative director.
With the hire of Brennen Britton, that means the only two African-American chiefs of staff in the entire Senate work for Republicans. The other is Jennifer DeCasper, chief of staff for South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott.
The only African-American communications director in the entire Senate is Darrell "DJ" Jordan, and he works for Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma.
Lastly, two senators have hired an African-American legislative director. We have Courtney Temple, who is working for Republican Thom Tillis of North Carolina. And we have Clint Odom, a black man, who was just hired by newly minted Sen. Kamala Harris of California as her legislative director — making him the only African-American senior staff member for a Democrat in the entire U.S. Senate. Republican James Lankford, of Oklahoma, hired Darrell Jordan, the Senate's lone black communications director. Republican James Lankford, of Oklahoma, hired Darrell Jordan, the Senate's lone black communications director. (NICK OXFORD/REUTERS)
That means Republicans in the Senate now have four African-American senior staff members and Democrats have one. Not a single black woman serves on the senior staff of any of the 48 Democratic senators. Not a single African-American serves as chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, or communications director for any of the 48 Democratic senators.
Frankly, I’m disgusted. No wonder Democrats in the Senate have all but rolled over and played dead when it came time to confirm Trump’s cabinet picks. How can any of them claim that they truly value issues that matter to black folk when the only one among them who has even hired an African-American on their senior staff just started a few weeks ago?
Speaking confidentially to a staff member of a popular Democratic senator, I learned much more.
“We had to fight like hell for Kamala Harris to even hire Clint Odom as her Legislative Director,” said the staffer. “That came down to the wire and we weren’t even sure if she was going to hire him. It’s a money thing. These Democratic senators are often hiring people as favors to their top donors. They are getting pressured by rich benefactors and lobbyists and even corporations to hire people that they know and trust.”
Finally, it was all making sense.