While running for the seat in Congress he has held since then, Rep. Steve Cohen made waves in 2006 by pledging on the campaign trail to seek to become the first white member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
The promise made as much sense as anything liberals do. Cohen, who is white, was running for a seat in a majority black district of Tennessee. There was no reason to assume he couldn’t look after the needs of his constituents with the same dedication as Harold Ford, who had vacated the seat.
In spite of that, Cohen dropped his bid for membership after caucus members made it clear to him that whites need not apply.
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“I think they’re real happy I’m not going to join,” said Cohen, according to Politico. “It’s their caucus and they do things their way. You don’t force your way in. You need to be invited.”
The matter ended there, though questions should have been raised about this act of discrimination, much less why there needs to be a separate black caucus in Congress. Doesn’t all of Congress act in the interests of blacks as much as they do any other group?
Be that as it may, a similar development occurred this week in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which denied membership to Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo.
This time the reason for the denial was even more outrageous because Curbelo, who is the son of Cuban exiles, passes the ethnicity test.
But that wasn’t the reason Curbelo was turned down. It was because he is a Republican. Caucus spokesman Carlos Paz, Jr. attempted to explain the group’s decision in a statement that read:
The CHC isn’t just an organization for Hispanics; it is a Caucus that represents certain values. This vote reflects the position of many of our members that Rep. Curbelo and his record are not consistent with those values.
And what do we learn from this? That Hispanic voters are required to limit their values to those espoused by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Behold: Liberals’ definition of democracy!
