Essay: Grose’s Unified Theory: A Study of Rep. Maxine Waters’ CA-43 District

The socio-political landscape of race has changed greatly as institutionalized racist structures have been challenged, dismantled, and reimagined according to more equitable and restorative values. These changes have extended into the government, with an increase in the election and reelection of legislators of diverse racial and ethnic identities, including the historic election of Barack Obama as president. In his book Congress in Black and White, Christian Grose presents his unified theory of African American representation in Congress. In his work, he explores ethnic politics, and the multidimensional factors that influence representational decision making in Congress. He examines how representation has changed with the ascension of politicians and legislators who belong to historically marginalized communities, some of whom represent majority-white districts. Ultimately, he seeks to examine how black representation in Congress affects minority communities.

 

In order to gain a complete view of representation, Grose employs a multifaceted strategy that involves analyzing and comparing legislators from various types of districts. For example, he takes a special look at the historically new phenomenon of black legislators representing majority-white districts in order to better understand whether black legislators’ interests in pushing for black interests are because of their own race or because of the race of the constituency which they represent. His strategy allows him to analyze the influence of both the racial makeup of the constituency and the racial identity of legislators. Upon using this strategy, Grose finds that “the race of the legislator is not as substantively important as the underlying racial makeup of the constituency,” and that in turn “legislators representing black-majority districts will vote in favor of legislation substantively in the interest of black Americans much more than legislators representing districts without a black majority” (16). He looks beyond descriptive representation by “analyzing recent Congresses with black legislators from both black-majority and black-minority districts” to gain a more holistic and complete understanding of black Congressional representation” (Grose 17). Thus, when it comes to representation, it is important to look at the racial makeup of the constituency along with the race of the legislator.

Grose’s unified theory of African American representation in Congress can be applied to Maxine Waters, an African American congresswoman of the Democratic party who currently serves California’s 43rd district, in the South Los Angeles County. His theory can be used to explore how as an African American congresswoman, Waters continues to bring substantive representation and proactive legislation that serves and benefits the African Americans of her district, as well as other people of color in her diverse constituency. Grose’s theory of unified representation holds that three competing theories regarding race and substantive representation are all predictors of how representative a legislator will be of their constituents and take action on the issues that most affect them. According to Grose, the three predictors are: “(1) democratic representatives lead to higher substantive representation; (2) black legislators lead to higher substantive representation; and (3) the higher the black population of a district, the higher the substantive representation” (20). Maxine Waters, a Democrat, and an African American, serves a district where African Americans are the second largest group after Hispanics.

Maxine Waters has a long history of fighting for racial justice, both nationally and abroad. In an article for the L.A. Times, Richard Paddock recognizes Waters’ commitment to the cause of racial justice when she authored legislation aimed at divesting from South Africa because of its apartheid regime in the 1980s. She opposed the Iraq War and criticized the Republican presidencies of George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, even co-sponsoring H.R. 140 condemning the appointment of Steve Bannon to the National Security Council and calling for his removal. As stated on her official website, Waters was first elected to Congress in 1990 and has been reelected for years since. Waters has served California’s 43rd district since 2013 and prior to this, she served California’s 35th and 29th congressional districts, which according to the Census Bureau are both highly diverse districts.

California’s 43rd district, which Maxine Waters currently represents, is a racially diverse congressional district located in South Los Angeles County and includes Inglewood, Hawthorn, and Torrance. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2016 survey, out of its population of 724,077, 47% of the district is Hispanic, 21% African American, 15% White, and 13% Asian. Approximately a third of the county’s residents are foreign-born immigrants. The district is a mix of many diverse ethnicities, including West Indian, Sub-Saharan African, Italian, and Arab. Partisan voting patterns over the last several elections reveal that the 43rd district has consecutively and overwhelmingly voted Democrat in favor of Maxine Waters. According to the article “Rep. Maxine Waters (D CA-43)” on the online database InsideGov, in the 2016 election, Waters, the incumbent, received 76% of the vote, beating Republican Omar Navarro, who received 24% of the vote. In 2014, as the incumbent she received 71% of the vote, defeating Republican John Wood’s 29% of the vote. And in 2012, she beat Democrat Bob Flores with 71% of the vote. Waters has continuously demonstrated a commitment to substantive representation not only for African Americans but also for Hispanics. According to Grose, descriptive representation for African Americans “is defined as the election of black legislators to office” (3). While the majority of the constituents in her district are Hispanic, the second largest group in her district are African Americans. Maxine Waters has provided both descriptive and substantive representation for the people of color in her district. Throughout her years as a Congresswoman, she has been committed to the interests of her African American constituents as well as her district’s Hispanic community.

Furthermore, Waters has championed leadership in liberal political values, such as supporting Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and human rights and according to GovTrack, the majority of the bills that Waters sponsors relate to Health (22%), Finance and the Financial Sector (17%), Crime and Law Enforcement (16%), and Education (10%). Poverty and housing concerns are particularly pressing issues in Waters’ 43rd congressional district. As stated on the webpage “California’s 43rd District” by the organization TalkPoverty, which is a project of Center for American Progress, in 2013, 21.4% of the population had incomes below the poverty line, which included 32.6% of children who came from families with incomes below the poverty line, meaning that a third of the district’s children live in poverty. Analyzed along racial lines, 24.7% of the district’s African Americans and 26.4% of the Latino population live in poverty. Waters has effectively worked for legislation to try to meet the needs of her constituents. According to InsideGov, Waters sponsored the Ending Homeless Act of 2017 involving housing and community development to end homelessness by addressing the lack of affordable housing and sponsored the Project-Based Voucher Improvement Act of 2015, which was enacted to improve the Housing Act of 1937, specifically in relation to using rental voucher assistance. Her record is extensive when it comes to addressing the issues that affect her primarily African American and Hispanic constituency, consistent with Grose’s conclusion that “African American legislators are much more likely to focus on the interests of African-American voters when it comes to allocating federal projects and constituency service to African Americans” (16).

As stated on InsideGov’s webpage, “Rep. Maxine Waters (D CA-43),” Waters cosponsored a bill to look into issues that specifically affect black men and boys, called HR. 1194: Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys Act, and she also co-sponsored H.R. 1135 to reauthorize the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Historic Preservation program. Her support for HBCUs is in line with Grose’s analysis that “black representatives allocate significantly more projects to HBCUs than white representatives in districts with large percentages of white voters” (157). Furthermore, Grose argues that “racial representation affects the allocation of projects to black constituents” (158). In the case of Maxine Waters, it is evident that she devotes substantial effort in supporting legislative projects that benefit her black constituents.

As a person of color, she has also pushed for legislation in support
of the non-black people of color in her district. According to InsideGov, in 2017, Waters also sponsored the Stop AIDS in Prison Act of 2017, which sought to address the lack of effective HIV/AIDS programs in Federal prisons, since people of color are disproportionally overrepresented in the prison system. She also co-sponsored the End Racial Profiling Act of 2017, which addressed racial profiling in crime and law enforcement – a significant issue for the constituents of her majority black and brown district and H.R. 858: DREAMers, Immigrants, and Refugees Legal Aid Act, which directly reflects the concerns of the Hispanic and Latino members of her constituency and the major issues and struggles that they face with immigration policies. It is evident that Waters has served both as a descriptive and substantive representation for African Americans which Grose defines substantive representation as a case “when legislators work to provide substantive results for African-American constituents” (17). Upon analyzing Waters’ history of sponsored and co-sponsored bills, it is clear that Waters has been dedicated to meeting the policy needs of black voters by pursuing the issues which most affect her constituents. This analysis falls in line with Grose’s finding that “black legislators seem to view their role as being responsive to black constituents in general […] African-American constituents benefit substantially from descriptive representation” since more often than not this results in substantive representation (158).

Upon analyzing Christian Grose’s theory and perspective, Maxine Waters aptly describes minority political representation for African Americans. Maxine Waters has provided substantive representation for not only the African American community but also the majority-Hispanic community of her district. She has consistently supported legislation that responds to the needs and struggles of people of color, thus acting as a voice for marginalized communities in Congress.