This is the latest account in a growing and rich body of literature on minority political representation in the US Congress. Congress in Black and White is a timely and must-read for scholars serious about studying the political representation of underrepresented groups and for policymakers evaluating the efficacy of majority black and influence districts. Christian R. Grose examines the important question of whether black and white legislators, representing similarly constructed congressional districts, expend the same effort in representing black interests. Using an extensive database on congressional earmarks and interviews with legislators' staffers in their home districts, he finds unequivocally that black legislators are more effective in representing black interests than are white legislators.

Grose provides compelling evidence that obtaining earmark funding for district projects or “bringing home the bacon” is equally as important as members' voting records in determining whether legislators are effectively representing minority interests. He finds that black legislators are more likely than white legislators to obtain earmarks for projects in predominantely black communities and for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The monetary value of the earmarks obtained by black legislators for black communities is significantly higher than those obtained by white legislators. In addition to distributing earmarks to the district, black legislators dedicate more effort to outreach services to minority constituents in order to gain their support. These services include locating their district offices in predominantly black communities within the district and hiring black employees to staff their district offices.

Unlike other accounts that argue that racial background of the legislator or proportion of black voters in the district is the driving force behind the difference in responsiveness to black interests, this book argues that the difference is largely attributable to electoral coalitions on which these legislators must rely in order to get elected or reelected to office. Specifically, black legislators rely on greater turnout among black voters than white legislators in order to win elections—with black voters representing a crucial part of black legislators' electoral coalition. Thus, black legislators will spend significant effort ensuring that their core supporters are rewarded with earmarks. Conversely, white legislators do not generate the same turnout in elections from black voters and must rely on more support from white voters. As a result, white legislators are more likely to spend their time balancing the interests of both black and white voters. Grose does not discount the impact of other factors, such as the race of the member or black voting age populations, but the primary theme of his unified theory of representation is the composition of the electoral coalition.

Despite these strong and robust findings, there are a few areas that merit further discussion and debate. Although Grose examines the efforts by black and white legislators in various district demographic configurations, the core of the book's theoretical story and data analysis centers on whether black and white legislators from “influence districts” work equally to obtain earmarks for black communities and HBCUs. Influence districts are those where blacks comprise between 26% and 49% of the voting age population. The author states that “[w]hite Democratic legislators from black-influence districts will have virtually identical support coalitions by race as will black Democratic legislators, though black turnout will not be as high relative to white turnout” (p. 35). Additionally, he argues that white legislators generally receive a higher percentage of the white vote than do black legislators in black-influence districts. Moreover, “[w]hite Democrats are able to appeal to a broader base of white voters than can black Democrats, though they are unlikely to rouse the excitement of their base of black voters in the same way as black legislators can” (p. 35).

Grose does not fully explain or explore the reasons for varying levels of support by black and white voters for black and white candidates. Do black and white candidates receive greater support from co-ethnic voters solely due to their shared racial background, or do they receive greater support from co-ethnic voters because they actively engage in efforts to mobilize their support? His evidence suggests that the racial backgrounds of legislators play a significant role in their strategic electoral decision-making calculus. Specifically, white and black legislators use race to determine which set of voters in their district they should actively mobilize. The electoral coalitions are not purely predetermined, and legislators play an active role in constructing their electoral coalitions and in determining whose issues to address. Thus, there appears to be more motivations for the legislators than strategic factors. Also, all black Democratic legislators are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is charged with representing the interests of all blacks nationwide and not just the blacks in their district. Future research should look more closely at the ways in which strategic factors interact with nonstrategic factors, such as racial or ethnic group consciousness, to motivate legislators' strategy.

The concept of racial trust is an interesting part of the book, but the measure employed to capture this concept is hindered by the high collinearity that surely exists between the race of the legislator and size of the black voting age population. The inclusion of the racial trust measure does not diminish Grose's primary results, but including racial trust does not give us more leverage than race of the member or the size of the black voting age population.

Finally, Grose's account forces us to consider what the normative implications are for the substantive representation of black interests if black legislators in majority white districts focus primarily on strategies designed enhance their reelection prospects, but are reluctant to advocate for issues that blacks strongly support, such as stronger civil rights and liberal social welfare policies. Does providing largesse primarily to black elites or elite institutions such as historically black colleges and universities adequately address the issues of the entire black community and constitute substantive representation of black interests? This book is sure to stimulate more debate on these pressing issues and should be required reading for all social scientists, particularly those scholars in racial or ethnic politics and congressional politics.