Corporate donations ok if you're black?

Before you groan, read this from over at Hot Air:
How Congressional Black Caucus got around McCain-Feingold.

WASHINGTON — When the Congressional Black Caucus wanted to pay off the mortgage on its foundation’s stately 1930s redbrick headquarters on Embassy Row, it turned to a familiar roster of friends: corporate backers like Wal-Mart, AT&T, General Motors, Coca-Cola and Altria, the nation’s largest tobacco company.

The original story is from the NYT by Eric Lipton and Eric Lichtblau. I know, I know. I never would have thought they would report on something like this but this is quite the bit of journalist-ing here... so credit given where it's deserved. The NYT article has to be read to be believed. So, make sure you go read it (It's four pages).

It [Congressional Black Caucus] has a traditional political fund-raising arm subject to federal rules. But it also has a network of nonprofit groups and charities that allow it to collect unlimited amounts of money from corporations and labor unions.

From 2004 to 2008, the Congressional Black Caucus’s political and charitable wings took in at least $55 million in corporate and union contributions, according to an analysis by The New York Times, an impressive amount even by the standards of a Washington awash in cash. Only $1 million of that went to the caucus’s political action committee; the rest poured into the largely unregulated nonprofit network.

The NYT included this handy graphic as well, showing who gave what (click takes you to the NYT website for a larger version):

(Larger local version of graphic)

I would be curious to know how much time "duties" for the Congressional Black Caucus soak up for these Congress-people. Consider: If I am a Hispanic, why would I vote for someone who spends a considerable amount of time working on policies, research, and handing out other 'goodies' designed, at least nominally, to specifically exclude me? If you, as a private citizen, wanna have some private club designed to help some particular group of people - knock yourself out - but should members of Congress, elected to represent entire states or districts at the federal level, be participating in race based entities that use their Congressional stature as a tool to raise money?

She [Elsie L. Scott, chief executive of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation] also acknowledged that if her charity did not have “Congressional Black Caucus” in its name, it would gather far less money. “If it were just the Institute for the Advancement of Black People — you already have the N.A.A.C.P.,” she said.

You don't say.