Quote:I'm saying that the natural state of affairs is for minorities to suffer disenfranchisement when not specifically protected by law. We've seen it for hundreds of years and to dismantle those protections with "kumbaya, we can all be represented together" ideology will take us right back to 1960 in no time flat. The majority will have their concerns addressed while the minorities end up in ghettos with no voice, and race is just one of several that have that potential for segregation.
So who's to say a county with such a diverse population can't find a way to represent all of it's citizens. Again for example say Jacksonville has 900,000 residents in Duval last time I remember, let's come up with a number for arguments sake, 1 representative for every 150,000 residents in a given district (a county in this example). Why is it not feasible for Duval county to then say ok we have 900,000 residents that gives us 6 county representatives so let's make our county into 6 sections and have each one represented?
You'd still accomplish representation for each group of people in each county, you'd eliminate the ridiculous ability for states to create districts make it near impossible to remove incumbents, and you keep the districts honest. Like it or not people of a county have MORE in common then these artificial boundaries stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando.
No one's saying disenfranchise minorities, If anything the system we have now disenfranchises everyone because you end up with incumbents winning for 20 years!
Quote:So who's to say a county with such a diverse population can't find a way to represent all of it's citizens. Again for example say Jacksonville has 900,000 residents in Duval last time I remember, let's come up with a number for arguments sake, 1 representative for every 150,000 residents in a given district (a county in this example). Why is it not feasible for Duval county to then say ok we have 900,000 residents that gives us 6 county representatives so let's make our county into 6 sections and have each one represented?
You'd still accomplish representation for each group of people in each county, you'd eliminate the ridiculous ability for states to create districts make it near impossible to remove incumbents, and you keep the districts honest. Like it or not people of a county have MORE in common then these artificial boundaries stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando.
No one's saying disenfranchise minorities, If anything the system we have now disenfranchises everyone because you end up with incumbents winning for 20 years!
So you'd just gerrymander on a smaller scale, you haven't changed anything.
As bad as it is,
<span style="font-size:14.3999996185303px;">Gerrymandering is probably a non-factor overall. It just applies to congessional districts, not to the Prez, nor the Senate, nor local elections, nor to most of the state elections. Even in congress there have been turnovers from one party to another this past election. As another example, Alan Grayson won, then lost, then won his seat back. That district is hardly guaranteed for either party.</span>
Quote:So you'd just gerrymander on a smaller scale, you haven't changed anything.
It changes everything, the scale is important in elections.
Quote:It changes everything, the scale is important in elections.
it would certainly change things for the minority communities, right back to the antebellum South.
Quote:We can agree to disagree.
We can, but you don't have history or human nature on your side on this one.
Quote:it would certainly change things for the minority communities, right back to the antebellum South.
I don't think so. Jacksonville elected a black mayor, and the US elected a black (or half black, if you want to split hairs) President.
I'm not saying racism is a thing of the past, but packing blacks into their own districts is like saying white people are too racist to vote for black candidates, and that only black candidates can effectively represent black people, which is pretty racist in itself. This political apartheid is in effect like excusing racism, saying, hey stop complaining! We gave you your own representatives, now leave us alone!
Face facts. This is all about protecting Republican politicians from competition.
Quote:I don't think so. Jacksonville elected a black mayor, and the US elected a black (or half black, if you want to split hairs) President.
I'm not saying racism is a thing of the past, but packing blacks into their own districts is like saying white people are too racist to vote for black candidates, and that only black candidates can effectively represent black people, which is pretty racist in itself. This political apartheid is in effect like excusing racism, saying, hey stop complaining! We gave you your own representatives, now leave us alone!
Face facts. This is all about protecting Republican politicians from competition.
Love this take! "Everything is fine, Republicans are evil though." :thumbsup:
Quote:Love this take! "Everything is fine, Republicans are evil though." :thumbsup:
It's almost as if you didn't read what he wrote and instead decided what you want his position to be then stated it as if it were what he said.