2025/06/24 by James R. Jones · 1 voice · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Race, History, and American Society
paper · doi:10.1080/01419870.2025.2519804
openalex publication_date 2025/06/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
The 2024 elections brought unified Republican control and enabled President Trump to pursue a white supremacist agenda. While much focus has been on executive actions, this paper centers Congress as a critical but understudied site of democratic erosion and racialized governance. Despite growing racial diversity, Congress remains a deeply racialized institution. Using a Black epistemological framework, I analyze it as both a white space and a Black space – where white dominance is reinforced even as Black lawmakers resist and reshape norms. Focusing on three developments in the 118th Congress – the clash between Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jasmine Crockett, the closure of the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the primary defeats of Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman – this study reveals how racism structures institutional power and constrains Black agency. By shifting attention from policy outcomes to the institutional environment, this paper offers a grounded analysis of racism within congressional governance.