The 114th Congress Is One Of The Most Diverse Ever, And That's Kinda Pathetic
Earlier this week, Congress reconvened with more female members and one of the most racially diverse set of lawmakers in the body’s history. That doesn’t actually mean its demographics match up with those of the U.S. population, though.
A record 104 out of 535 members of Congress are women. That’s an accomplishment, but still a far cry from the 272 women Congress would need to actually be representative of the American public.
Congress continues to be dominated by Christians, and the growing number of Americans who do not identify with any religion are hugely underrepresented. Racial minorities also fall short, with the 13.2 percent of black Americans and 17.1 percent of Hispanic Americans represented by only 8.5 and 6.9 percent of Congress, respectively.