Media coverage
No media member can apparently mention the retirement of Watts without mentioning that he is the "only black Republican member of Congress." Because, of course, all Republicans are vile racists, and there would certainly be many more otherwise.
Not surprisingly, in the Democratic party, the party of wealth redistribution, there are plenty of black Congressmen, assembled into a solid left-wing bloc called the Congressional Black Caucus. J. C. Watts, by what has been described as "mutual agreement," was the only black Congressman who was not a member.