ABSTRACT
The framers of the Constitution intended for Congress to be the dominant branch of the government. This chapter discusses the extent to which Congress represents African Americans descriptively, symbolically, and substantively. Like each of the major institutions of the American government, the Congress's response to the black demand for universal freedom and equality has been hesitant, tentative, and unstable. A member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Lewis has devoted much of his time to persuading the Congress to recognize the contributions of African Americans and the civil rights movement to American history. David Canon in Race, Redistricting and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts found that race matters in Congress, not just in terms of substantive voting but also in various forms of symbolic representation. Studying congressional voting behavior from 1973 to 1992, Kenny Whitby found that race matters even after controlling for party and region.
