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Former Congressman Says There's Still Room to Fight Racial Disparities

Stokes speaking at The City Club in Cleveland. Photo coutresy of The City Club/Ideastream.
Stokes speaking at The City Club in Cleveland. Photo coutresy of The City Club/Ideastream.

Congressman Stokes says he's proud of the contributions African-Americans have made since the 1960s, though he says he doesn't feel like it's enough for a group that represents roughly 13 percent of the country's population.

"We've made progress," he said. "But then you quantify the progress we've made. And under any analysis, you'd have to say while we've made progress, it has been both gradual and minimal."

Stokes calls some of that progress--including President Barack Obama's two-terms as the country's first black president and the increase in African-American business leaders--monumental.

In the 1970s he chaired the U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations which investigated Dr. King’s death.