The two majority-minority districts of North Carolina.
Image courtesy GBH
Embedded Files
Balancing equity and equal protection.
Balancing equity and equal protection.
A 1965 civil rights and representation mandate on previously segregated states.
A constitutional question of when prioritizing the voice of a group is eerily similar to exclusion.
When a group of five white North Carolina voters, led by Ruth Shaw, sued the federal government for their mandate on inclusive districts, well-intentioned racial gerrymandering and its reception in the Supreme Court would change American districting laws forever.
North Carolina had to reckon with a decades-old act and a mandate for representation.
North Carolina had to reckon with a decades-old act and a mandate for representation.
The 1965 Voting Rights Act, passed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to substantially increase minority voter representation. This act banned literacy tests and other methods used to exclude minority voters, and also mandated the creation of Majority-Minority districts by banning the dilution of minority voices.
Majority-Minority Districts, established by the VRA, required that more than half of a given district must be a linguistic or ethnic minority. This ensures that the voices of a minority are not drowned out by that of the majority.
The nine justices of the Supreme Court in 1993.
Learning Resources
Learning Resources
What is Gerrymandering?
What is Gerrymandering?
Gerrymandering is the redrawing of voting districts. It began with good intentions– to ensure that each district has about the same population size. However, this seemingly innocent process was first twisted in 1812 in Massachusetts to favor the democratic-republican party by Governor Elbridge Gerry, who signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts into an odd, salamander-like shape: giving us the term Gerrymandering.
Let's take a look at this region. First, divided evenly into 50 precincts. 40% are yellow, and 60% are blue. In this area, blue wins. If we divide this areas into even districts, 5 districts are blue, and 0 are yellow. Blue still wins. However, through more aggressive gerrymandering, this county has 3 yellow and 2 blue districts, meaning that yellow wins-- a drastic shift from before. This illustrates just how impactful gerrymandering can be when trying to change the will of the people. When we see the bizarre shape of North Carolina’s District number 12, remember the complex mechanics that make gerrymandering possible.
Further Reading
Further Reading
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse