Sharp population declines in big cities across the map have Congressional Black Caucus members anxiously monitoring redistricting developments, fearful that numerous African-American House members could find their districts dramatically altered for 2012.
The problem is expected to be most acute in economically hard-hit Northern states including Michigan, Missouri and Ohio — all of which saw population declines in inner cities over the past decade. In those places, black lawmakers are confronting not only the prospect of reconfigured seats that increase their political vulnerability but also possible primary election scenarios facing other Democratic incumbents.
It is reasonable to conclude that "election results represent the will of the people in a given voting district". When given the opportunity to express their viewpoints in a free and open election they spoke via their ballot.
While formal elections are no a two year cycle in America - there exists a form of voting that occurs every weekend in America. Typically it involves a U-Haul truck backing into a drive way or parking space and carting a person and their family from one place to another. As long as we retain our "freedom of assembly" that is expressed as a freedom of residential selection in any place that we can afford to purchase or rent this will continue to be the case in this constitutional republic of America.
The 2010 US Census and the recent 2010 Congressional elections have brought a measure of concern upon the Congressional Black Caucus. A disproportionate number of them reside in "zombie districts". They have lost their economic vitality and now are merely held together by the ability of their residents to exit to go to work, bringing their paycheck back in as they purchase the items needed to live.
In short - the policies of maintaining a living standard of "the Least of These" in line with national standards assured to all Americans has not sufficiently developed the equal human resources within the domain they represent.
The choice to "vote with their feet" has been seen in both White and Black constituents of these places. In as much as the availability of jobs is the cornerstone of every community - as jobs erode - so does the stability in the community.
The CBC is ironically preparing itself to "fight" to protect the "Black districts" in various states - tapping the Section V of the Voting Rights Act to defend their existence - like the classical tale of reverence for "portraits upon the wall" some people mistake "a Black face in Congress" with "the Black Permanent Interests being represented". If indeed these interests were presented then the key quality of life indices would bear this out.
The Most Self-Serving Lines From The Story
Clips from the Politico story:
Michigan Reps. John Conyers, top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee and a House member for more than four decades, and Hansen Clarke, a freshman, could see their Detroit-based seats expand into less hospitable suburbs. Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver is at risk of having his Kansas City-area district drawn into more conservative areas that currently border his seat.The most frustrating part of the high lighted quotes is the knowledge that these leaders DON'T GIVE A DAMN about the fact that so many of their BLACK constituents have departed these districts in question to seek out other places where their family's interests are expressed.
......................
“As long as there is no intent to place me in a district where people have an overwhelming history of performing Republican, I think I’m going to be OK,” said Cleaver, who noted that he was successful winning the support of white voters during his eight years as Kansas City mayor during the 1990s. “A cursory review of the 43 districts’ members indicates there are very few, if any of them, that will be redistricted in a way that they can’t win,” he said, before adding, “I may ask you to come talk to me in 45 days, and I may be singing a different song.”
Still, concern about redistricting has mobilized the top ranks of black congressional leaders. Cleaver made his first order of business upon taking the reins of the CBC this year the formation of a legal committee, to be headed by Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, that will oversee the nationwide remapping. At the crux of the committee’s responsibilities, said Cleaver, will be to make sure that African-American voters are not shifted so as to negatively affect black representation in the House. Fueling the CBC’s concern is the reality that Republican-controlled state legislatures are overseeing the redistricting process in states, including Michigan and Ohio, that are poised to lose seats in redistricting.
CBC members will also be relying on the Department of Justice, which will review some of the newly drawn maps to ensure they don’t illegally dilute African-American voting representation in protected districts. Under the Voting Rights Act, any district with a majority of minority voters is protected and cannot be eliminated or lose its majority-minority status.
Speaking from a first hand point of view - my own eyes as my guide - Black people are MOVING INTO these "conservative areas" that border these "protected districts drawn for protected people". Ironically the very attacks on racist practices that in the past prevented Black people from moving into these "hostile conservative areas" are now allowing them to move out of HOSTILE areas where "the Least Of These" have been harvested for their votes but not DEVELOPED.
The main reason why I oppose the continuation of Title V which has been used to reserve "majority minority districts" is that despite all of the strangely shaped districts, draw to capture enough "Black bodies" in order to insure the election of a favorable person - the key interests of the people within are far too often squandered.
I maintain that the maintenance of these districts are more in line with the "nationalization" of the community attention within our communities while failing to translate into the intended benefits locally. The cornerstone of the "highjacked Black consciousness" that I hear on "Fight The Power" radio when I listen is the sight of the Black attention being nationalized upon politics in Washington DC - all the while "Rome burns" at home. When they can't point to success locally they seek "congregational unity" by focusing them outward on issues that they can garner support.
Ironically as the NAACP seeks desperately to avoid "punishing" Black kids by sending them into their neighborhood schools - they implicitly make the case for more of our dynamic political boundaries to be drawn by something other than racial chess.
Does the Black community actually "win" if we retain the districts of the same people who won each of their elections for congress - this despite the depressed conditions in many of their districts?
It is clear that while there is abundant "Voter Nullification" going on within the Black community - the presence of "Black Flight Progressives" who exit these same places show the truth. They continue to vote in a "favorable manner" - they just opt to not live within the districts where their "mission has been accomplished".
Let's stop pretending folks.
0 comments:
Post a Comment