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LINK: https://nbcnews.to/2IqU15s
A new DNC report, obtained by NBC NEWS, shows the party is employing more blacks and Latinos as it responds to attacks that it has taken them for granted.
By Alex Seitz-Wald
May 7, 2018
WASHINGTON — Nearly half of the Democratic National Committee’s staff are now people of color and 51 percent are women, according to a new report to be published by the DNC Monday.
The report was prepared as the party responds to criticism that it has taken minority voters for granted while overlooking them for jobs and contracts.
The DNC became more diverse as it staffed back up after its post-2016 election lull, seeing a big jump in the number of Latinos (from 5 to 22) and smaller increases in the number of African-Americans (from 22 to 30), Asian-American/Pacific Islanders and LGBTQ people (from 14 to 19).
Overall, 44 percent of DNC staffers are people of color, according to the report obtained by NBC News, and 70 percent of department heads are now women.
Party officials, who are elected by the entire DNC, are more diverse than ever, as well, with a two-fold increase in the number of African Americans among the party’s top elective ranks.
“Our mission is not complete, but we’ve made unprecedented progress,” wrote DNC Chief Operating Officer Laura Chambers, who prepared the report.
“We simply cannot be effective advocates for the communities we represent if we do not accurately reflect them at every single level — from staff, to party officers, to elected officials,” Chambers added.
People of color, and especially African-American women, are Democrats’ most loyal voters, and were crucial to recent victories in Alabama and Virginia.
But many feel the party hasn’t “put them in the driver’s seat,” as the moderator put it during a December conference hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Black Women & Girls.
DNC Chairman Tom Perez has tried to address the concern, but faced persistent pushback from some in the party.
Read the full exclusive on NBCNews.com
