When members of the 119th Congress were sworn in earlier this month, the legislative body became the most racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history. However, it remains far less diverse than the public it was elected to serve.
With the combined House and Senate membership, a Pew Research analysis found 66 members of Congress are racialized as Black, 53 as Hispanic, 21 are Asian American and Pacific Islander, and 4 are Native American or Alaskan.
Five are multi-racial. Pew counted these once in each of their racial/ethnic categories but not their final total of 139.
The vast majority of racialized groups in both chambers are Democrats. In the House, 85% of its non-white members are Democrats, with 75% of non-white members of the Senate belonging to the Democratic Party.
Despite increasing levels of representation, Congress is significantly more white than the general population. While almost three-fourths (74%) of Congress is white, only 58% of the U.S. citizenry is–a gap of 16%.
Representation in Congress of citizens racialized as Black has reached an even split compared to the U.S. population, at 14% apiece. Hispanics, however, are vastly underrepresented, with 11% congressional representation, despite being 20% of the population.
More information on Pew’s analysis, including information on particular members of Congress, can be found here.
Senior Editor at Good Faith Media.