The Louisiana Senate recently continued the state’s long history of racial oppression by voting down Sen. Cleo Fields’s congressional redistricting map. What’s more, the Louisiana House voted down Rep. Randal Gaines’s congressional redistricting map. Gaines, a veteran civil rights attorney who represents one the hardest hit areas by Hurricane Ida (river Parishes), and Fields, an attorney and former congressman. Gaines’s and Fields’s proposals included two majority-minority districts (electoral districts where the majority of the constituents are people of color) giving them an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice — something Black voters in the state advocated for. Since the Black population has grown in LouisianaA fair and just additional seat to represent this shift is justified.
Louisiana is no different. Map drawers refuse to open up new electoral opportunities to communities of color. What’s more, they are actively dismantling Black voting power by carving up Black communities in some states or packing Black communities into fewer districts in other states. These manipulative tactics make it difficult for Black voters not to elect their preferred candidates, regardless of turnout and Black population growth.
We’ve seen this play out time and again in Louisiana, where Black voters have not always been treated equitably. My organization, the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice, understood this history and participated in a statewide roadshow allowing legislators and voters to directly engage around redistricting. Voters shared extensive testimony about the importance of representation during the roadshow which ran from October 20-21, 2021 to January 20-22.
Across the state, countless voters expressed the need for legislators to add an additional majority-minority district given that 33 percent of the state’s population is Black. Louisiana has six congressional districts. One-third of six is 2. Instead of surrendering to the will and logic of population growth, legislators continue to machinations that will silence the voters.
State Sen. Sharon Hewitt suggested she was actually protecting Black voters by not creating a second majority-minority district because she didn’t think a 51 or 52 percent majority-Black district would turn out to vote, meaning they wouldn’t be able to elect a candidate of choice. Many Black voters would rather have a committed and representative voice than 51 percent or 52 per cent. It is wrong for legislators to decide what voters want; they should have more power.
In the absence of a process to allow voters to choose who represents them, legislators have an enormous influence. For example, the current congressional House delegation sits in several powerful committees. As the second-poorest state in the countryThis representation is not beneficial or encouraging growth for Louisianians. In fact, our delegation recently voted against the president’s infrastructure billWith the exception of Congressman Troy Carter who is currently the only majority-Black member of Congress, all but one. Their resistance could have prevented an amazing opportunity to invest heavily in crumbling infrastructure. This is a risk that we cannot afford to continue taking.
It is clear that any maps containing an additional district will not be approved by the committee. As they did on the Senate side of the debate, state leaders will undoubtedly try to amend the floor. State Senator Fields made a powerful and compelling pleaHis colleagues to do the right things.
Next, a map that only has one majority-minority area must be submitted to Gov. John Bel Edwards is the person who can and should veto any map. Edwards should unite his state’s people of color, especially as he was elected to office by Black voters. Governor Edwards, for his part, said that he would veto. unfair maps.
He would be in great company. Gov. Andy Beshear KentuckyGov. Laura Kelly KansasThe racially discriminatory maps proposed by the legislatures in their respective states were vetoed. Their vetoes were overturned but their willingness and support for the people of their state will be recorded in the history books. Moreover, several residents from three Kansas counties sued to block the state’s newly passed congressional maps, which conservatives in the state passed in early February.
Louisiana is home to the second-largest Black community in the country, after Mississippi. Governor Edwards could stand for equity, fairness and justice if the governors of Kansas, Kentucky, and other states with smaller Black populations, are able to do so.
Without representation, protection is impossible.
Many of the events that occurred during our redistricting process seem to be headed toward litigation. I hope Louisiana’s leaders remember that we experienced a 4.8 percent drop in the white population, and demographic trends show that it will continue to decrease. My question is: Will legislators consider it fair if our population shifts to a minority of white people, given the decisions they made to racially gerrymander the country and silence the voices from voters of color? I hope Louisiana’s leaders consider that people of color represent more than 40 percent of the population, and with the current maps being considered, only receive less than 25 percent of the representation. What scenario would allow someone to take less than what they deserve?
Immigration is driving the population shifts in the United States, which is a fact. People of color, including Black immigrants, are the majority of those who immigrate to the United States. By drawing district lines that ignore the growth in population, legislators cannot hold communities of colour hostage.
When we think about redistricting we should consider the wider fight for freedom. Davante Lewis, director for public affairs and outreach at the Louisiana Budget Project, stated in his testimony before Congress that many Black people have suffered decades of trauma. Legislators have the ability to ensure progress by drawing fair maps that allow voters of color to choose their candidates. Gaslighting voters by downplaying their growth in population is a continuation their traumatic past.
All people have the right to be represented by elected officials. Legislators shouldn’t be allowed to pick their voters. However, legislators will continue to block the will of the people unless there is an equitable process. This is especially true for Black people, people of color, and people living in poverty.
