Detailed text transcripts for TV channel - MSNBC - 20131101:07:50:00
The first african-american to serve a full senate term was also from mississippi. his name was blanche bruce. and both of these men were elected before the passage of the 17th amendment in 1913, when senators were chosen by state legislatures, rather than by a popular vote. since then, there hasn't been an abundance of african-americans in the senate. cory booker becomes the ninth black senator in all of u.s. history. this is a graphicical representation of what that looks like. the teeny, tiny black slice is every black person who's ever served in the united states senate ever. so why aren't ...