Clyburn Apologizes For Accusing Pelosi, Hoyer Of ‘Tokenism’ On Staffs

on October 15, 2013 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: House Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (L), Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) (C), Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) (2L) and Rep. Jo... WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 15: House Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) (R), Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) (L), Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) (C), Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY) (2L) and Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-NY), walk out of the West Wing of the White House after meeting with President Barack Obama October 15, 2013 in Washington, DC. Negotiations between Congressional Republicans and Democrats and the White House continue as the federal debt limit looms and the partial shutdown of the federal government moves into its third week. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) apologized to his fellow party leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for accusing them of employing “tokenism” in their staff hiring.

Tokenism is the practice of hiring a select few minorities to check the bare minimum boxes required to prove diversity.

Pelosi told the Washington Post that “of course” she accepted his apology. Hoyer said “well, he apologized” but added that Clyburn was “totally inaccurate. I mean, you’ve seen my staff. The irony is, my floor staff are all minorities — a Mexican, a Chinese American and an African American. I looked at him and said, ‘Jim, you’ve known me for 60 years. What are you saying?’”

Clyburn had said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday that “tokenism was all right with [Pelosi and Hoyer],” adding that they don’t have experience with a “fully integrated staff.”

The congressman is now walking it back, saying that he was talking about the Hill at large and that “Nancy’s got a whole lot of black folks on her staff.”

“To the extent that that was not made clear, I apologize — I was not talking about their staff; I was talking about the broader caucus,” he added. “Our staffs are fine. The whole caucus is not fine.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Another round of Democrat bashing in 5…4…3…2…1…

  2. Shorter James Clyburn: “Why is the NRA getting all of the attention lately?”

  3. Avatar for darcy darcy says:

    So … soon-to-be 79 year old House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) apologized to 79 year old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and 80 year old Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for accusing them of employing “tokenism” in their staff hiring.

    What’s wrong with this picture?

  4. Nobody mentioned aliens?

  5. I’m actually from Normay and we need some (token) representation.

    Seriously…(a) we can always get better and (b).the fact that the Dems are sharpening the pencil at all is what’s important…cuz people:

    The GOP is fascist.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

39 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for navamske Avatar for inversion Avatar for sniffit Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for christianhankel Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for arc_of_the_universe Avatar for darcy Avatar for greylady Avatar for candirue Avatar for schmed Avatar for gharlane Avatar for lisaaug Avatar for swell Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for maximus Avatar for timorwig Avatar for plebeian Avatar for paul_lukasiak Avatar for rucleare Avatar for lbj Avatar for emiliano4

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: