'Make Jim Crow blush': Black leaders bash draft New York congressional map - Scott Wong and Sahil Kapur (2022) - The American Constitution

Extract

[...] 'Make Jim Crow blush': Black leaders bash draft New York congressional map - Scott Wong and Sahil Kapur (2022) - The American Constitution Good morning everyone, I Introduction Today I am going to be presenting on a recent article published by NBC News titled "Make Jim Crow blush: Black leaders bash draft New York congressional map." The article discusses a draft map of New York's congressional districts that has sparked controversy among Black leaders, who are alleging that the map is designed to dilute the voting power of Black residents in the state. [...]

[...] If gerrymandering is to be excluded from these drawings, there will always be cases where one group or one party will lose seats, or where some group will gain representatives and others lose some. The best way might then be to draw districts a bit randomly, taking account of the population, but to then keep them in place for long duration of time, allowing demography to play its part. Another solution is to lower the number of electoral districts but to use proportional list voting, each district electing several representatives. Thank you for your attention. [...]

[...] Overall, the controversy surrounding the draft New York congressional map highlights the ongoing issues of voter suppression and gerrymandering in the United States. As the article states, Black leaders have called the map a "blatant attempt to suppress the voting power of Black and brown communities," and have urged state officials to reject it. The map was finally adopted. V Conclusion In my opinion, the issue with reshaping electoral district is very complex, and one cannot give a definitive and complete answer that would satisfy everyone. [...]

[...] Its only real issue is that it splits Black neighbourhoods, diluting their votes. This not, however, a purely democrat vs republican problem. Granted, Black people tend to vote more for democrats, but this is not always the case. Here, the new map will lead some representatives from the Democratic Party to run into each other, and the white reps. have more chances to win than the black reps. The white representatives then are at risk of beating the black ones, even from the same party. [...]

[...] Additionally, the map creates several new congressional districts that are predominantly white, while consolidating several districts that have large Black populations. This has led many Black leaders to argue that the map is designed to dilute the voting power of Black residents in the state, and that it is a clear violation of the Voting Rights Act. The draft map has faced widespread condemnation from Black leaders and civil rights groups, who have called on state officials to reject the map and to come up with a new one that is fairer and more representative of the state's diverse population. [...]