Constituents of two communities of Interest, District 9 –Rep. Al Green and District 18-Rep. Shelia Jackson-Lee can stop sweating bullets now that the redistricting fight has subsided. Testimonies were received from the public and the integrity of their districts have been preserved. The official date for filing has just passed and both representatives will be re-elected.
It is not only important that we have fair elections, but also equally important that the process of redistricting is fair and equitable. After every 10-year census new districts must be drawn for the House of Representatives in every state.
In Harris County, Chris Hollis spooked the Republican Party by expanding the voter participation process in 2000. As a result, Republicans decided to enact a process whereby politicians from the kakistocracy (incompetent and corrupt governing class) would choose voters rather than have voters to choose politicians. This 2021 version of redistricting aims to protect the party in power and shield the incumbents from challengers.
The problem that they have is that every citizen that is snoring is not sleeping. When the maps were being constructed to deconstruct Rep. Lee and Rep. Green’s districts and produce a collision between these titans, a free press sounded the alert and patriots mobilized to contest crooked minds and crooked hands that are predetermining electoral outcomes.
Civic education must become paramount because redistricting can determine whether your tax dollars are distributed equitably. If your district has been engineered without regard to people who have common interests, you will probably end up living closer to environmental toxins that produce cancer clusters. If your district is racially engineered, a majority needed to pass the FOR THE PEOPLE ACT, BUILD BACK BETTER and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act will be shaven to a powerless minority. Furthermore, if people with common interests are dispersed throughout the community by commissioners that hate transparency, it will be harder to find common ground with those who are willing to push back.
It is good that the heat is off Rep. Lee and Rep. Greens’ districts. But let me assure you that the Abbot-Paxton termites are still working at the foundation. Our duty is to be eternally vigilant.
