New Black Lawmakers Bring More Skills and Less Rhetoric to Congress : Government: The House now has 38 African-Americans, almost double from the last session. Most newcomers served in state legislatures.

The same political winds that swept the nation’s first baby-boomer into the White House also lofted a new class of black lawmakers onto Capitol Hill.

Unlike the wave of black preachers and social activists who arrived in Washington more than 20 years ago, this new group of African-American lawmakers are long on prior legislative experience and more closely attuned to the needs of their districts. As a result, they are expected to generate less rhetoric but produce more results.

“We are a new generation,” boasted Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), one of the black freshmen House members.

Many of the earlier black lawmakers were quick to brandish the angry language of street activism and were not as inclined to engage in the give-and-take that gets bills passed and keeps constituents happy.

Ronald Walters, chairman of Howard University’s political science department, said the election of this year’s freshman class signals a “break with the tradition of black (congressional) leaders as protest leaders.”

“The nature of the (black) politicians coming in is very different,” agreed Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), who was elected to Congress last November after serving several terms in the Maryland state Legislature. “We are attuned to constituent services as a pragmatic component of our political careers.”

As a result of last November’s elections, the number of black lawmakers has increased by roughly half. In the House, the roster has grown to 38, not counting the Mississippi seat being vacated by newly confirmed Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. In the Senate, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois is the first black since Republican Edward Brooke left in 1979.

The new black members of the 103rd Congress readily acknowledge they represent the fruit of fallen barriers to black voting rights and legislative redistricting, which created 13 new black-majority districts in the South last year. Three other black newcomers replaced retiring or defeated black incumbents.

“Reapportionment was the tool by which we could increase the numbers of women, minorities, blacks across the country,” said Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), one of the black women elected among the newcomers. “That’s why reapportionment is so good.”

Georgia’s Bishop is a prime example of the phenomenon. A former state legislator, he served terms in both the Georgia House and Senate before running in the 2nd Congressional District, a redrawn downstate jurisdiction that is half-urban and half-rural. Its residents have a wide range of social problems common to black districts, from troubled small businesses and high infant mortality to rampant unemployment and declining literacy rates.

While nearly 60% of the residents of Bishop’s district are black, slightly less than half the registered voters are black. That requires Bishop to have political skills transcending racial politics.

Bishop said among his top priorities in Washington is protecting the state’s $2.5-billion peanut industry. He sought and secured a seat on the Agriculture Committee, where former Rep. Charles Hatcher served as chairman of a subcommittee that oversees federal peanut programs. Bishop defeated Hatcher in the Democratic primary before winning the seat in the general election.

“Obviously, any politician, and I’m no exception, has to look after home first,” Bishop said. “In order to increase (constituents’) comfort level with me, I needed to be able to take care of their businesses.”

The new black lawmakers will take their place with returning members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have risen to prestigious positions within the seniority-based rules of Congress. Among the new chairmen of House committees are three incumbent blacks: Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), who heads the Government Operations Committee; Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.), chairman of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Berkeley), chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

While the black newcomers share much in common with their more experienced black colleagues, as a group they tend to possess several distinguishing characteristics:

* Most of the newcomers are from largely rural or suburban communities across the South, rather than the urban areas of the North and Midwest. Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia sent their first blacks to Congress since Reconstruction.

* Only one of the newcomers--Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-Fla.), an attorney and a former federal judge--had never held elective office before. The freshmen black legislators came from a large roster of political professionals who have been in training for an opportunity to win national office.

“For us, coming to Washington is like moving from the minors to the majors,” said Bishop. “It’s a bigger place, but the principles are the same. We didn’t just fall off the truck.”

* As evidenced by their past legislative experiences, the new representatives are anxious to pass laws that return dividends to their constituents. They are less content to simply score rabble-rousing points on behalf of favored social causes.

In a recently published history of blacks in Congress, “Just Permanent Interests,” Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.) writes that the arrival of five new black members in 1971, increasing caucus membership to 12, “brought additional pressure to bear on the black members of Congress for militancy, if not outright radicalism.”

The new class of black lawmakers brings a more mainstream approach, with resumes that more closely resemble those of other members of Congress and legislative agendas more focused on the needs of their districts.

“They came with an agenda, not looking for an agenda,” said Howard University’s Walters. “And, by their backgrounds and past experiences, they very much fit the pattern of the other members of Congress.”

The Congressional Black Caucus expects its role to expand with the dramatic increase in membership. Caucus leaders say they expect the black lawmakers to form the backbone of a progressive, Democratic bloc--including 47 women members and 17 Latino members--who can push bills or stop legislation.

Walters said he is confident the coalition will come together in the early days of the session, but fears it could fall prey to political divisions as individual goals begin to diverge. But McKinney, the newly elected Georgia lawmaker, sees no reason to worry about divisions within the caucus.

“I certainly don’t see any schism developing in the black caucus because there are more black members joining,” she said. “In fact, I think that will only strengthen the caucus and add to the diversity of ideas and opinions that it can express on a wider range of issues.”

More important for President Clinton, these new lawmakers appear predisposed to work with the new Administration. Many campaigned in lock-step with Clinton’s stump positions and have already indicated their willingness to try to reconcile differences rather than turning toward confrontation.

Rep. Eva Clayton (D-N.C.) said she and her fellow black classmates have “a sense of reality” about what is possible in politics.

“There will be conflicts,” said Clayton, who was elected president of the freshman legislative class. “But we’ll have to work them out as they come up. By taking care of knitting when we can, we will have stitched together a fine quilt by the time we’re done.”

Black Members of Congress

As a result of last November’s elections, the number of blacks in the House and Senate has increased by roughly half. Together with returning members of the Congressional Black Caucus, they are expected to form the base of a powerful voting bloc:

SENATE Illinois: Carol Moseley Braun* (D) *

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Alabama: Earl F. Hilliard* (D) California Ronald V. Dellums (D) Julian C. Dixon (D) Maxine Waters (D) Walter R. Tucker III* (D) Connecticut Gary Franks (R) Florida Corrine Brown* (D) Carrie Meek* (D) Alcee L. Hastings* (D) Georgia Sanford Bishop* (D) John Lewis (D) Cynthia McKinney* (D) District of Columbia Eleanor Norton (D) Illinois Cardiss Collins (D) Bobby L. Rush* (D) Mel Reynolds* (D) Louisiana William J. Jefferson (D) Cleo Fields* (D) Maryland Kweisi Mfume (D) Albert R. Wynn (D) Michigan John Conyers Jr. (D) Barbara-Rose Collins (D) Missouri William L. Clay (D) Alan Wheat (D) New Jersey Donald M. Payne (D) New York Floyd H. Flake (D) Edolphus (Ed) Towns (D) Major R. Owens (D) Charles B. Rangel (D) N. Carolina Eva Clayton* (D) Melvin Watt* (D) Ohio Louis Stokes (D) Pennsylvania Lucien E. Blackwell (D) S. Carolina James E. Clyburn* (D) Tennessee Harold E. Ford (D) Texas Eddie Bernice Johnson* (D) Craig Washington (D) Virginia Robert C. Scott* (D) * Elected to first term on Nov. 3, 1992