Is there a glass ceiling for black senators?

VIDEO - Cory Booker, former mayor of Newark, was sworn in as the country's ninth black senator. Steve Kornacki looks at the history of black U.S. senators...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki talked with Willie Brown, Hilary Shelton and Rep. G.K. Butterfield Thursday about why there are so few African-American U.S. Senators.

This week, former Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker joined Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina as only African-Americans in the Senate, and the ninth black senator in U.S. history.

Kornacki suggested to his panel a “pipeline problem” is at the root of getting African-Americans opportunities to run for the Senate. Kornacki also noted that some 10 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives are African-American, while the Senate lags behind.

MSNBC’s ‘All In with Chris Hayes’

“Well that disconnect is all about racism, basically, in America,” said Brown, who served as San Francisco’s Mayor from 1996-2004. “Plus, the absence of opportunities in various states where the population should be able to be supported. The political parties and the resources have just not been there behind African-American candidates.”

Watch the panel’s entire discussion below:

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