Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Life

Rep. Steve Cohen Makes History

The Associated Press reports:

The House on Tuesday issued an unprecedented apology to black Americans for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws.

“Today represents a milestone in our nation’s efforts to remedy the ills of our past,” said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

And who is behind this historic resolution? None other than Rep. Steve Cohen, the freshman Jewish congressman who represents a predominantly black district in Memphis, Tenn. — indeed, according to the AP, “the only white lawmaker to represent a majority black district.” Cohen, the AP reports, introduced the apology resolution as one of his first acts in Congress.

But Cohen has had his own fraught history when it comes to the issue of race. Originally elected two years ago following a primary contest that featured a crowded field of black candidates, Cohen had faced criticism from those who thought that his majority-black district should be represented by an African American. (Cohen had expressed interest in joining the Congressional Black Caucus, but the caucus has a policy of only admitting black legislators as members.)

Since then, as this resolution highlights, Cohen has made some progress in building bridges with black members of Congress. Many African-American representatives were among the original co-sponsors of his apology resolution, and the AP reports that several members of the Congressional Black Caucus are backing Cohen’s reelection bid against a black primary challenger.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.