In Southern States, redistricting maps lock out communities of color
Photo: Getty Images
Despite strong advocacy, congressional and legislative redistricting continue to leave minorities unrepresented. Litigation is expected before the 2022 primaries.
20 states in the country have completed congressional redistricting and 22 states have done so with respect to legislative district maps. Although communities of color in southern states are pushing for more equitable representation, partisan mapmakers aim to undermine their influence and legislators are passing laws to restrict their access to vote. If there’s a silver lining, advocates say, it’s growing public awareness about what’s at stake and what needs to be done to protect the democratic process.
“This cycle of redistricting is one of the most complicated ever,” said Michael Li, Senior Counsel, at the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program during a press briefing hosted by Ethnic Media Services and moderated by Jennifer Farmer, author, and founder of Spotlight PR.
“In part because the census data came out later than expected…and we’re also doing maps with COVID, so there’s less opportunity for the public to participate.”
In normal times, the census numbers would have been released in February but they were ready just in August, leaving less time for advocates to litigate maps while candidates prepare for the 2022 primaries. In Texas, mail-in ballots will go out in less than 40 days and in North Carolina, the filing period ends on December 17th.
“There’s a possibility that we will see primaries move as a result of litigation,” said Li, stressing that drawing mapping remains a political process done through legislatures, and usually subject to gubernatorial veto.
As in the Southern states, where one party controls everything, whether it’s Democrats or Republicans, “that is a recipe for abuse and racially and politically discriminatory maps,” Li said. The two exceptions are the states of Louisiana and Virginia: the first because it is the only southern state with a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature, and the second because the commission that draws the maps is bipartisan.
While the census shows that communities of color (Black, Latino, and Asian) accounted for the largest increase in the country’s population (in fact, eight out of ten of the new voters this decade are people of color), in the last 10 years the White population fell for the first time in the country’s history. That’s why in demographically diverse states like Texas and Georgia, these communities are the focus of map drawing.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Asian and Latino voters were displaced from Congressional Districts 4 and 6 respectively to more rural counties, creating not only division between communities but political advantages for Republicans, Li explained.
“Redistricting is a much more potent form of voter suppression,” the expert observed. “Even if you’re able to vote, your vote really doesn’t matter because the result has already been predetermined. Because of these maps, people of color will be locked out of power for the course of decades.”
Civic participation
Activists insist that fair maps that have a lens towards racial equity will only happen if there is a process that provides access and education opportunities for people to participate. Governments and legislatures don’t seem very interested in it.
Kyle Brazile, Director of Civic Engagement for the NC Counts Coalition, said locals had only three business days to prepare for a public hearing on the criteria the legislature would adopt for the redistricting process, a hearing that was scheduled in the middle of the day so only a handful of people showed up.
“For this cycle, we had just 13 public hearings compared to the last decade, when there were over 60 public hearings throughout the state of North Carolina,” Brazile said. At the largest event in Durham, local organizations had to provide PPE and translation services. Despite the short time, 200 people registered and 150 attended a training session on these maps even though they did not have the drafts of what their representatives wanted to draw. The General Assembly set up a portal for people to make public comments, and received almost 4,000.
“We’re not excited about maps. There’s clear political gerrymandering in a state where we are split 30% unaffiliated, Democrat and Republican. We now have maps that are 11 to 3 leaning Republicans,” said Brazile. “Folks now want an independent redistricting commission in NC and stop spending $11 million every cycle on litigation against the legislature.”
As a result of the census, North Carolina now has an additional seat in Congress which represents more votes in the electoral college. The state saw an increase of about 40% within the Latino community in the last 10 years and today represents 10.7% of the entire population, with great growth in counties such as Mecklenburg, Wake, Forsyth, and Guilford.
Despite this, Hispanics are the ones who least understand the process, they are not familiar with the places where the hearings are held and lack interpretation services, said Iliana Santillán, Executive Director of El Pueblo in North Carolina. Her organization created a Spanish website and illustrative material to help Hispanics understand redistricting.
“We have one Latinx legislator at the NC General Assembly (Ricky Hurtado), maybe a couple of City Council members, and a couple of school board members. So it’s not that we have representation, and with the way that maps are drawn, this is not going to happen, ”said Santillan. “We need to elect our officials, not the other way around.”
In Alabama, a coalition of 28 civic engagement groups began meeting months before the census data was released in order to participate in the first round of redistricting in the state since the 2013 Shelby County decision. This decision ended section V of the Voting Rights Act that gave the Department of Justice the power to review any proposed legal changes in states with a history of discrimination against voters of color.
“We wanted people of color living in the state empowered to go to the public hearings,” said Evan Milligan, Executive Director of Alabama Forward. “We’re trying to make sure that messaging pervades everything we’re saying about redistricting and voter registration – it’s not just about the mechanics of civic institutions, but about the survival of our values and our democratic traditions.”
As it is still unknown whether federal laws such as the For the People Act (S1) and the John L. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, will pass in Congress, activists believe that nothing can be left to chance in what happens locally.
If you want to know more about the redistricting process, follow these links:
“We are not invisible”: Hispanics raise their voice about redistricting in Houston
Neighbors in Harris County share their stories about the neglect of their communities. At the time of redrawing maps, the commissioners have ignored them.
Floods, pollution, crime, closure of businesses, higher property taxes, and gentrification. These are some of the consequences that the Latino residents of Harris County in Houston have suffered for decades as a result of the drawing of the electoral maps in their communities. While the new redistricting that is done every 10 years based on census numbers continues its course in the hands of the county commissioners, Hispanics raise their voice about who should represent them and the services they should access if the design were fairer.
“The big problem with the drawing of the maps is that the people who represent us are electing their voters, but the voters are not the ones electing their representatives,” said Dayana Iza, a youth organizer for Mi Familia Vota, during a Roundtable in Spanish hosted alongside Ethnic Media Services. Underserved Latinos expressed what they would have wanted the map makers to hear if the process were more participatory.
“There is nothing wrong with the Spring Branch area (her neighborhood) growing because that gives us, the new generation, more opportunities. But the new projects should keep in mind the communities that have lived here for years,” said Iza. “We are not invisible.”
In this district located in west-northwest Harris County, the lines dividing precincts have caused that those who live near the Addicks reservoir, have a water collection dam to prevent downstream flooding, while those who reside in the east experience heavy floods because the lots designed for water conservation have been converted into luxurious townhouses. These developments have raised taxes and wiped out local businesses that the Hispanic community often frequents.
“At the time of gentrification, not only does the price of lots and places increase but to rent an apartment or a new house, a social security number is required. Many of our undocumented families simply don’t have it,” said Jose Juan Presas, also a Spring Branch resident for 25 years.
The cultural melting pot of Koreans and Central Americans that lives along Long Point Road, a renovated avenue with bike lanes, crosswalks, and cafes, also faces a lack of services in their language. Juan Castilla says that while Hispanics are integrating with Americans, “a whole generation” is moving to more affordable districts like Katy, Sugar Land, or North Kinwood. “Many streets are improved but in others where Hispanics live, we still lack infrastructure and that is not seen as a priority,” Castilla said.
Voices ignored
In other districts such as Greater Greenspoint, Latinos are experiencing an increase in crime: “Gunpoint” is the new nickname for the area, said Rosalva Hernández, a resident of the community for more than 12 years.
“We have a shopping mall here but many stores have closed due to crime in the area,” Hernández said. “We hear shots all the time and we cannot sleep; several times I have called 911 and the Police and they promise to send more patrols but it never happens.” The woman says that she doesn’t trust the redesign of the maps because poor areas have been excluded from renovations the more affluent sectors received.
In other areas like Southside, high poverty in combination with the pandemic also increased unemployment and crime. “A lot of people pass by my house in cars firing guns … the bullets have not entered any home but they get stuck in cars or on the house sidings,” said Ruby Alanis, resident of Minnetex and an international business student at St. Thomas University. “It is very sad because you shouldn’t go to sleep thinking that you can lose your life, no one should be afraid.”
In this area, the refineries have caused tremendous pollution increasing the levels of mortality among Latinos. The lack of clean air has also affected children who go to impoverished and underfunded schools. “No one should have these problems in such an advanced and developed city,” Alanis observed.
Perla Garcia, a resident of the unincorporated community of Kinwood, said that the lack of septic tanks and drainage services in her area caused Hurricane Harvey to impact them in a tragic way. “The difference in these services is dramatic if I only drive five minutes west … That area of La Mesa has better drains, better services, stores nearby and everything is better designed … there are no traffic lights here, nor do they pick up our garbage,” she said.
Marla López, the coordinator of Mi Familia Vota who moderated the conversation, said that the decisions made by the county commissioners are leaving Latinos excluded and divided. “How do we appear on those commissioners’ development agendas? We are simply not included.”
López showed how in the 2011-2021 electoral maps of Harris County, Hispanic communities were split into three different precincts, affecting their participation and the chance of meeting their representatives who rarely speak Spanish. Mi Familia Vota campaigned heavily for commissioners to listen to neighbors’ stories during the redistricting process that allocates resources for the next 10 years. But despite the push, listening opportunities were limited.
“Which officer should we talk to during floods? That relationship does not exist because we are not their voters… More accessible resources are needed for Spanish-speaking people to actually vote. In 2022 we will continue to develop these relationships to increase our capacity and power, ”she concluded.
