The American Civil Rights movement should be about true integration. A candidate should be elected because he or she represents voters the best, regardless of race. Unfortunately, the Texas Democratic Party has failed to take the same non-racial stance. Instead, it has chosen to manipulate the Voting Rights Act as a way to gain seats in the Legislature.
The current redistricting debate centers on this. The Texas Democrat Party has chosen to support candidates defined primarily by racial background in special racially drawn districts, rather than candidates with broad appeal. The result is self-segregation, over dependence on racial politics and a class of protected politicians who are limited in their electability to their racially protected districts.
Two Federal judges voted to change the boundaries of District 117 on the belief that it violated the Voting Rights Act. They discussed changing 117 in a lengthy defense of their proposed interim map, but their only claim was that the State tried to replace regularly voting Hispanics with those who do not regularly vote. This is not part of the Voting Rights Act or any case law. They do not attack District 117’s stats because the map was carefully drawn to improve every statistic.
Honorable Jerry Smith, the other Federal judge who heard the case, voted against changing District 117. He wrote that “any purported challenge to the Bexar County districts is without foundation,” and “we should not use past elections as a crystal ball to predict how future elections will turn out.” He went on to explain that the court “is prevented from making such complex political predictions tied to race-based assumptions,” and “nothing in the State’s plan will hinder Hispanic opportunity to register and vote in greater numbers than before.”
Texas Democrats are so concerned about getting elected that they forget they must represent everyone in their districts. This is why candidates that define themselves primarily on their racial background often fail to get popular support. In contemporary America, including Bexar County, race-baiting needs to end.
Creating a climate of racial polarization does not achieve anything. Hispanics and Mexican-Americans consider themselves simply American.
John V. Garza represents District 117. He will testify before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. next week regarding redistricting.
The current redistricting debate centers on this. The Texas Democrat Party has chosen to support candidates defined primarily by racial background in special racially drawn districts, rather than candidates with broad appeal. The result is self-segregation, over dependence on racial politics and a class of protected politicians who are limited in their electability to their racially protected districts.
Two Federal judges voted to change the boundaries of District 117 on the belief that it violated the Voting Rights Act. They discussed changing 117 in a lengthy defense of their proposed interim map, but their only claim was that the State tried to replace regularly voting Hispanics with those who do not regularly vote. This is not part of the Voting Rights Act or any case law. They do not attack District 117’s stats because the map was carefully drawn to improve every statistic.
Honorable Jerry Smith, the other Federal judge who heard the case, voted against changing District 117. He wrote that “any purported challenge to the Bexar County districts is without foundation,” and “we should not use past elections as a crystal ball to predict how future elections will turn out.” He went on to explain that the court “is prevented from making such complex political predictions tied to race-based assumptions,” and “nothing in the State’s plan will hinder Hispanic opportunity to register and vote in greater numbers than before.”
Texas Democrats are so concerned about getting elected that they forget they must represent everyone in their districts. This is why candidates that define themselves primarily on their racial background often fail to get popular support. In contemporary America, including Bexar County, race-baiting needs to end.
Creating a climate of racial polarization does not achieve anything. Hispanics and Mexican-Americans consider themselves simply American.
John V. Garza represents District 117. He will testify before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. next week regarding redistricting.
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