I read this article over at Redstate, and my jaw dropped.  The newly-elected representative of New Orleans, a city that has a majority African-American population, will probably be denied entrance into the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).  Part of the problem, I would assume, is that he’s Republican.

His other sin?  He’s not black.  His name, as you may recall, is Anh “Joseph” Cao, who is from Vietnam.  Maybe they’re mad he won against one of their members, Rep. William Jefferson, who kept his bribe money in the freezer.  It definitely sounds like they are out to promote African-American Representatives and Senators and not the African-American constituents who helped put most of them there.

These are the constituents who were seen all over television during the Katrina debacle with Kanye West telling Bush what a horrible person he is for letting that happen to them.  And now the CBC won’t let their representative into their caucus?  I would think the CBC would welcome him with open arms, because someone who isn’t African-American might need “help” understanding the plight of an African-American, and they could be the ones to explain it to him. I certainly hope Obama touches them with a little hopenchange to help them welcome the new Obama era and let Cao in.

Incidentally, Cao has accepted an invitation to be a member of the Congressional Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus.  They allow anyone who is of Asian-Pacific Islander decent OR who represents a heavily Asian-Pacific Islander district.  Heck, even if you just care about Asian-Pacific Islander causes, you will be welcomed.  Why can’t the CBC be so open?