Where Are All The Black Senators?

Jamelle Bouie explores why African-American politicians so rarely reach higher office. Josh Barro summarizes his argument:

One of the important factors Bouie identifies is that it is hard for black officeholders to jump from the House to higher office, in large part because they tend to represent heavily black, extremely liberal House districts. This leads them to develop voting records that place them far to the left of their states’ political medians. These districts are also disproportionately lower income, meaning that representatives from them do not tend to have the strong fundraising networks needed to support statewide campaigns. These representatives are well-positioned to get re-elected, but are not likely to be successful in statewide races.

Barro recommends no longer "gerrymandering 20- to 40-percent black congressional districts out of existence."