Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
by the way, the transcripts/memos where some Republican legislators talked openly about race and packing blacks into districts, etc are beyond the pale and not acceptable.
Indeed. Which is why I view anyone who votes for Republicans in North Carolina as accomplices of and complicit with blatant racism and bigotry, among other reasons.
Indeed. Which is why I view anyone who votes for Republicans in North Carolina as accomplices of and complicit with blatant racism and bigotry, among other reasons.
THH, Wouldn't you hate to be painted with a similar broad brush?
Indeed. Which is why I view anyone who votes for Republicans in North Carolina as accomplices of and complicit with blatant racism and bigotry, among other reasons.
That is a pretty blanket attack, and I'm pretty sure violates at least a few C-D rules. Fortunately, we don't get triggered and offended when someone personally attacks every single one of us, but we'll remind you that your Democratic friends up in Maryland have done the exact same thing. Do you not have a problem with them?
The district that originally snaked up I-85 was put in place by the Democrats to ensure long serving Mel Watt was elected and stayed elected.
It's humorous that what was a "good" thang, became a "bad, bad thang."
I think that district was also contested but held up in the court of law. Leave it to the GOP take a questionable "thang" and totally abuse it to the point of an unconstitutional "thang". There is give-and-take in the way all these districts are crafted but the NC GOP's blatant gerrymandering was too absurd for the majority conservative supreme court. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Newer residents probably wouldn't even know the backstory.
This is from Wiki, so take it with a grain of salt - but it's pretty spot on:
Quote:
In 1992, Watt entered the Democratic primary for the newly created 12th District, a 64 percent black-majority district stretching from Gastonia to Durham. He won the four-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic district—with 47 percent of the vote.[9] He then easily won the general election by defeating Barbara Gore Washington (R) and Curtis Wade Krumel (L) with 70 percent of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to represent a significant portion of Charlotte since 1953.[10] In 1993, the original version of his district was thrown out in Shaw v. Reno, and was reconfigured to exclude its far western and far eastern portions. The new 12th, however, was no less Democratic than its predecessor, and Watt was reelected 10 more times. He only faced one relatively close race, when Republican Scott Keadle held him to 55 percent in 1998.
In 1992, the NCGA decided, after a lot of litigation, threats, etc to draw 2 Congressional districts that were by definition black majority. Not one-party majority. Black majority. And Mel Watt and Eva Clayton - both African-American - were elected.
The problem with the initial 12 Congressional District was the legislature's desire to help "minorities" (aka African-Americans) elect a "minority" representative so as not to fun afoul of the 1965 Civil Rights act which forbids the "dilution of minorities voting right". The bottom line, if you want to create a color blind society, then eliminate mandates like this. As a matter of fact, we should do like a lot of countries do, and that is eliminate "race" on things such as the census, applications, or anything that it is currently ask of......
The problem with the initial 12 Congressional District was the legislature's desire to help "minorities" (aka African-Americans) elect a "minority" representative so as not to fun afoul of the 1965 Civil Rights act which forbids the "dilution of minorities voting right". The bottom line, if you want to create a color blind society, then eliminate mandates like this. As a matter of fact, we should do like a lot of countries do, and that is eliminate "race" on things such as the census, applications, or anything that it is currently ask of......
NC is 22% African American and you could easily design districts so there would be 0% African American representation or possibly any Democratic representation - that's been the goal.
The remedy isn't ignoring historical and current racism in America. The problem with that approach is that it will fester and boil (via riots, etc) because the majority demographic believes it doesn't exist and then wonder "why are these people so mad"?
Even with all the mandates, policies, etc if you think it's easier to get a job, buy a house, etc with equal or better credentials as a Black person then you're willfully ignoring the problem. There are a lot people in this country who simply do not like Black people and don't try to hide that fact.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
