FOCUS Article Shows Mixed Results For Black Legislators After Redistricting

4/3/2002

From: Liselle Yorke of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, 202-789-6366; lyorke@jointcenter.org

WASHINGTON, April 4 -- The remarkable growth in the number of black elected officials after the 1990 redistricting process will not be repeated in this round according to an article in the March 2002 issue of FOCUS magazine. In "Few Gains Likely Among Black Legislators," David Bositis writes that the 2000 redrawing of political boundaries will result in no new black-majority House districts and minimal gains in the state legislatures. In fact, Bositis, a senior research associate at the Joint Center, opines that any gains in the number black legislators would most likely develop in areas that are not majority black. (Call 202-789-6366 for reprint permission or for copies of this article.)

He points to several factors that have emerged since black legislators and civil rights groups aggressively pushed for the gains that were made in 1990. These include the Supreme Court's increasing skepticism of the use of race in redistricting and Republican control of many of the state legislative bodies that draw the maps. Bositis, however, notes that the election of black candidates in non-black majority areas during the 1990s may signal an unlikely route for modest increases in the number of black elected officials.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, conducts research and analyses on public policy issues of concern to African Americans and other minorities, promotes their involvement in the governance process, and operates programs that create coalitions within the minority, business, and other diverse communities. For information, visit http://www.jointcenter.org/.