When the Democrats take over in January, they have a long list of items to address. However, one glaring item in my book is what they need to do for Black America.

With black congresspeople in charge of key committees, the hope is that issues of particular concern to black America will receive more attention. However, as we know, just having a black face in the mix does not necessarily translate into black issues being addressed.

Black lawmakers are likely to lead key committees in the new, Democrat-led House, and that means issues such as Hurricane Katrina relief, hate crimes and voting problems are likely to get much more attention.

“Within the Congress, their influence went from about a one to a nine,” said David Bositis, who analyzes black politics for the Joint Center for Economic Studies in Washington. “This is by far the peak — ever — for the Congressional Black Caucus.” Members of the group may head as many as five prominent House committees and 17 subcommittees.

With the Democratic majorities slim in the House and slimmer in the Senate, National Urban League President Marc H. Morial cautioned that turning talk into legislation will be tough. And Bositis noted that President Bush “can veto whatever the Democrats do.”

We’ll see how things shake out. Honestly, I have my doubts but, for their survival, Democrats better start addreesing these concerns.

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