In a moment of unthinking transparency, US Rep. Patrick McHenry told a Politico reporter that the Republican redistricting plan for North Carolina will use racial data to pack African Americans into three Congressional districts and thereby make several surrounding districts more heavily white and more Republican friendly. This strategy to isolate (or ghettoize) black voters essentially twists the Voting Rights Act into a tool for empowering conservative white politicians. It is certainly not new but it’s rarely stated so openly. The state Republican legislators who are drawing the maps quickly distanced themselves from McHenry’s frank talk because they know such a statement of intent can be the grounds for the US Justice Department to reject the maps as improperly “packing” black voters. You can express your views to the state legislators drawing the maps in the final series of hearings across the state, which end in Raleigh on Monday. Attend, sign up ahead of time to comment, or just show up and decide on the spot (so far, there’s been time for extra speakers at the end in each location with a hearing).
1-888-OUR-VOTE|info@democracy-nc.org
And of course this will all be given prominent treatment on local TV news, right?
Did you coin a new term, ghettoize? Isn’t part of the challenge for redistricting is keep black districts so that blacks get their representation? Wouldn’t Democracy NC squack if black vote got diluted so they would lose their representation? What’s the solution? I think we should let the Republicans do their job and make it more favorable for them now that the shoe is on the other foot.
I think the proper solution is for a non-partisan or, at the very least, a bi-partisan committee to oversee redistricting. On top of that, one better solution would be for politicians to stop focusing all their energy on getting themselves elected and start doing the damn jobs they were elected to do in the first place: get our economy going, create jobs and bring North Carolina into the 21st century.
I’m sick and tired of politicians in Raleigh doing nothing but trying to chip away at voting rights or re-carving districts just so they can keep their jobs. How about you do your job first and then we’ll see about you keeping it?
But what disgusts me the most is Republicans trying to justify it be saying “the Democrats did it first.” They were elected because they promised not to act like the Democrats in NC. Keep your word and do things differently. Where’s the transparency? Where’s the ethics?
You better wake up and smell the roses as this is the way the system works. The winning party gets to divide the spoils. It’s worked that way in this country since it’s founding.
Interesting that you would mention transparency. I remember that Obama was going to have the most transparent presidency. It turns out it’s about as transparent as Richard Nixon was. The Republicans are being very transparent on this redistricting, you can see Republicans are open and forthright on what they are doing. They admit it unlike the Democrats who have been very secretive in their machinations.
There is no violation of ethics in structuring the districts to favor the winning party.
Yes, they are being forthright and transparent about being racists and deliberately trying to limit the power of African-American citizens. I will agree with you on that. I just don’t think it’s a good thing nor do I think it is acceptable to say bad government is okay just because that’s the way it has always been done. In fact, that is the worst excuse of all and illustrates perfectly why I am an Unaffiliated voter.
Alan,
Can you explain how the Republicans are being racist? The goal is to give blacks their own districts so it ensures they have their own representation. Your alternative would dilute their voting strength. You make some serious allegations and have no proof on their motivations. Why don’t you make a suggestion on how you can improve our current system. Was Democracy NC concerned when the Democrats were in charge and actually created Mel Watt’s District? Oh no, now that the shoe is on the other foot there is concern. This is democracy in action, live with it.
It’s really remarkable, as evidenced by the responses above, that when a racist is confronted as being a racist, they never recognize it or admit it. Patrick McHenry admitted what he was trying to do, and then was chastised by his party for being so “truthful” about it. And by packing the districts with African American majorities, it will dilute the prior Democratic districts into Republican districts and thereby, in effect, take away African American representation. So you can take your inane argument back to your tea party meetings, where it originated, because people don’t buy it. That is, people who think know the truth.