North Carolina and South Carolina Senators and Congressmen were asked by the Charlotte Observer about the demographic makeup of their staffs. The results were not so suprising. Women and minorities still lack positions within the staffs.
. However, there are some choice bits from North Carolina's Officeholders.

First, our representative Myrick had so few women and minorities that she chose not to report:

Rep. Sue Myrick and several other members of Congress from the Carolinas declined to tell a newspaper the number of women and minorities on their staffs, with Myrick saying such information is "not important."

"We don't judge people on color," Myrick, a Charlotte Republican, told The Charlotte Observer. "We judge them on - if someone is perfectly capable, that's what we've always done."

If she had any significant number, she would report to show that. And it gets worse for Myrick:

The newspaper conducted a similar survey of the four senators and the Charlotte-area members of the House of Representatives in 2003. Myrick's office responded to that survey, reporting a staff of 18 whites and one black.

When questioned this year, Myrick's press secretary, Andy Polk, said the office would cooperate only if the newspaper provided the "political breakdown" of the paper's reporters. He later told Roll Call, a newspaper in Washington that covers Congress, the request was "just a playful way to make the point that we wish they'd focus on more of the hard work we're doing in Congress."

So now she does not want to report. Did that one minority quit? And does the makeup of the paper's reporters change her staff makeup?

But she was not alone in not wanting to show her horrible record.

In the Observer's survey, the 23 members of Congress from North Carolina and South Carolina were asked for the demographic breakdowns of their staffs. Seven of eight Democrats and five of 15 Republicans agreed to participate. Three of the Carolinas' four senators, all Republicans, released the information, with South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint declining.

I do not have to comment that it is not suprising that 10 out of 15 Republicans are not reporting. Included in that list is McHenry in Foxx.

The results show that women have some good positions, but minorities are lagging severely

Minorities do not fare as well, the paper said, citing the example of Burr and N.C. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who each have only one black member on staffs of more than 40 people.

These numbers are outrageous, yet not shocking. All communities need to be involved in our political process to make it legitimate. But time and time again, minority groups and working women are left out of the Republican future. It is time to call out North Carolina's racist and sexist representatives for what they are. Diversity is more important now than ever due to our interconnected world, and regrettably it is still an issue that Republicans care nothing about.