
Staffers of color often feel that formal channels of complaint are not responsive to them for some negative experiences, such as frequent microaggressions. Dear White Staffers recounted to Politico that he has been confused for a valet attendant when taking part in congressional events with his employer, and has been treated differently than white staffers by United States Capitol Police. population, and people of color made up just 10% of senior-level Senate staffers despite making up 40% of the U.S.


In covering Dear White Staffers, The Bulwark highlighted a 2020 report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, which noted several racial disparities in Capitol Hill staffing: Black Americans comprised just 3% of senior-level Senate staffers and 2% of the Senate offices' chiefs of staff despite comprising 13% of the U.S. The account was created primarily to post memes, seeking to document the experiences of being a person of color in the disproportionately white environment of congressional staffing. He also goes to substantial lengths to protect his anonymity, clearing out his camera roll daily and not revealing his connection with the account to anyone except his partner. Dear White Staffers is claimed to be closely watched by high-level congressional staff and even sitting representatives.ĭear White Staffers is run anonymously, although Politico identifies the manager as male, and he identifies himself as a person of color who worked on Capitol Hill as of April 2022. Despite the unverifiability of any one case, the account has received praise for bringing attention to the plight of congressional staffers in general, a conversation that resulted in some staffers moving to form unions. The content on Dear White Staffers has been described as gossip, and frequently remains unconfirmed by independent fact-checkers. Dear White Staffers frequently facilitates " vibe checks" on incumbent lawmakers, inviting the reposting of crowd-sourced and unverified anecdotes from congressional aides who send anonymous messages to the account. The account was created primarily to post memes about being a person of color in the disproportionately white environment of congressional staffing, but a thread in January 2022 changed the account's focus to documenting poor treatment of congressional staffers in general, and significantly increased the popularity of the account overall.Īides face a significant number of challenges in performing their jobs, including long days, poor pay, a lack of diversity, and – as is frequently covered by the account – workplace bigotry and poor treatment by higher-ups. Dear White Staffers is an anonymous Instagram account that documents instances of alleged poor behavior by sitting members of the United States Congress, in their capacity as employers of congressional staff.
