Jim Clyburn accuses Hoyer, Pelosi of 'tokenism' in staffing, then walks back attacks

[DonViejo]

By QUINT FORGEY 06/20/2019 07:41 AM EDT

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn accused House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi of not prioritizing diversity hiring within their congressional offices — charging that “tokenism is all right with” his Democratic leadership colleagues before walking back his remarks.

“I’ve always managed a fully-integrated staff. Pelosi doesn’t have that experience, nor does Hoyer have that experience. To them, tokenism is all right with them,” Clyburn, a 14-term African-American congressman from South Carolina, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday.

“What I mean is, how many black folks are on Hoyer’s staff?” Clyburn told the Journal, adding: “I’m going to let you check it out.”

Asked whether Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Hoyer (D-Md.) have been pressed to take on more black staffers, Clyburn responded: “I don’t have to tell them.”

“They’re grown people. They can read. They can see,” he said.

The Journal reported that Clyburn sought to clarify his comments in a subsequent interview, claiming he was attempting to critique broader “tokenism” on Capitol Hill.

“I did not intend anything as any criticism of Steny or Nancy, because I don’t think they deserve to be criticized on hiring practices,” Clyburn said. “Nancy’s got a whole lot of black folks on her staff.”

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/20/clyburn-hoyer-pelosi-diversity-hiring-1372606

[Guilded Lilly]

1. Then why did you infer it, Sir? From the article...

“Seventy percent of Hoyer's staff identifies as female, people of color or LGBT, and 24 percent are African-American, a spokeswoman for his office told the Journal. Of Pelosi's leadership and district staff, 84 percent identify as either women, people of color or LGBT, a spokesman for the speaker's office told the Journal. A Clyburn spokeswoman told the Journal his office is 58 percent black.“