Posted on 08/13/2021 1:19:45 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
Latino groups are trying to excite Latinos about redistricting amid a census that some say undercounted many of their communities.
Here and there around the country, Latino advocacy groups have been instructing people on money and political power — and how to get it.
The groups are trying to help growing communities of Latinos understand the next step following the 2020 census results: having a say in how their neighborhoods, towns, cities, counties, regions and states will be thrown together or split apart in the highly partisan redistricting process.
The task is not an easy one. Redistricting is wonky and chock-full of behind-closed-doors maneuvering. But it has an oversize impact on people's lives, to the tune of billions of dollars as well as government decision-making power from Congress to school boards to local commissions and councils.
The latest set of numbers from the 2020 census are scheduled for release Thursday. They will include demographic data and should show Latinos' significant impact on the nation's population growth.
The census figures are the official start of the process of subdividing state populations into legislative districts. Many states have already started drawing proposed maps and holding community hearings ahead of drawing new districts that will be in place for a decade.
In North Carolina, redistricting is one of the classes in the People Power school organized by Poder NC Action, a civic education “school” on how power operates, said Irene Godínez, founder and director of Poder.
The group is targeting high school and college age Latinos and generally has about 30 participants in classes that meet a couple hours a week, Godínez said. Redistricting was a topic of one of the classes.
“We know our people were undercounted, so what we will get will be flawed because of that undercount,” she said. “Obviously we will try to make the best of it.”
The data released Thursday will give official numbers for the past decade. Based on the estimates, North Carolina’s Hispanic population has grown faster than its overall population, and about a quarter of the Hispanic increase is in Mecklenburg and Wake counties.
The Latino population grew from about 75,000 in 1990 to 800,000 in 2010 and an estimated 226,000 in the past decade, according to Carolina Demography.
North Carolina gained a congressional seat, for a total of 14, because it gained about 1 million people during the last decade. The Legislature draws its congressional and legislative districts.
New districts can be drawn where new populations have emerged, but lines for existing districts have to be adjusted to equal out population. Doing so can change the demographic, economic and political preferences of the district.
That's where the political wrangling sets in, as parties and groups try to draw lines that benefit their incumbents and future candidates.
Guarding against 'closed door' redistricting Because of the census delays resulting from the pandemic and Trump administration interference, states are facing fast-approaching deadlines to draw political maps.
That's added up to a compressed schedule in many states that could leave many Latinos who are just now tuning in to the process without much time to have their say on future political districts.
Mi Familia Vota, a national Latino group that conducted a 2020 campaign to get more Latinos to fill out the census, is launching its national campaign on redistricting next week.
For now it has been focused on Harris County, Texas, where Houston is, to influence the drawing of county commission districts.
Angelica Razo, Texas director of Mi Familia Vota, said the group is working with other communities to ensure that communities of color aren’t fighting each other for equal representation.
Their first and next task is learn the freakin’ language.
So are blacks.....
Exactly why is this not “Systemic Racism” by “La Raza”?
Illegals are not citizens. They don’t
deserve to be counted. They take the
risk of coming here, they should also
take the risk of how to survive here.
There’s lots of protein available.
NYC has a huge rat problem.
I wish all districts were mandated to be quadrilaterals. East-West sides running parallel to Longitude and North-South lines running parallel to Latitude. Shift the lines a few yards every 5 years or so, as needed. Box in a percentage of the state population such that all districts in the state contain an approximately equal number of registered voters. No easy manipulation for “power, money and votes” would be possible. This whole concept of Gerrymandering should have been outlawed at the start.
“One day whites are going wake up & wonder what happened...”
Many of us already have...., wait until their children do in about another decade.... That said, the latino population has the potential to be the biggest conservative movement in the country in some time.
Though they both scream about how unfair the present system is, neither the Republican party nor the Democrat party wants to see the practice of Gerrymandering abolished.
It’s like the non-existent call for election reform. Both parties are in on the game. There is only one party, and that party thinks the political game is going swell.
This is the pivotal key. Blacks have been in the Democrat’s pocket since 65’. This is about to changes as Latinos build their own political party, La Raza, and start their power play in California, Arizona, And Texas. When the Democrats lose California, it’s over. Without the big tamale, they won’t be able to control anything and the blacks will be simply voted out of the goodies.
The sad part is they won’t realize this due to them still living on the plantation. This is accelerating at a rapid pace in California. La Raza will be making its move soon in California to organize as a political party and begin to run their own candidates for Local, state, and feral offices. It’s going to be a rough ride.
Unfortunately Manny of those that moved to our country come from nations that continue to vote in their communist leaders ...those habits are hard to break. Just look at Mexico its citizenry continue to vote in corrupt officials over and over again. they know Those officials are corrupt and they still pull the lever for them. If you don’t believe me just look at how many Hispanics vote Democrat even though they know their party is the most corrupt between the Democrats and the Republican party. They honestly and really believe and have been brainwashed that the Democrat party is for the poor believe me I am surrounded by that kind of mine thinking in this blue city. They hate the Republicans.We do have some conservative Republicans but we are in the minority of the party. So as a Hispanic I can tell you America is doomed.
A number of years ago,the Mexican gangs cleansed Los Angeles of the black population.....Dems were in control and did nothing to stop it...They know the blacks will be useless to them soon....
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