Does Corrine Brown have a point? If she loses her redistricting battle to keep the lines of District 5 intact, will black voters lose out on having support in Congress?
Well, that’s a convoluted answer. It all depends on one’s definition of support.
Brown has represented District 5 since 1992 and stood as a booming voice of reason for causes important to black voters. If you’re not familiar with her work as a Congresswoman—which, by the way, you should be—what she’s known for recently outside of fighting to keep her district together is being a fighting voice after Trayvon Martin was killed.
She called out the Sanford Police Department for being inept and confronted Angela Corey, special prosecutor appointed to the case, by claiming that Corey’s office is stained with institutional racism.
While on the surface that may seem extreme, it wasn’t to many black voters. Brown’s district saunters down through Seminole County and takes in Sanford. At least it used to take in Sanford.
Without Brown’s representation, would the George Zimmerman case have turned out differently? Unlikely, but she was certainly one providing support for those in the black community who felt as if Martin’s body was being treated a rag-doll.
Brown was especially concerned about the voters in Sanford, according to Jacksonville.com.
“What’s going to happen to those people in that community?” Brown said Thursday during her testimony to the Senate’s redistricting committee. “Communities of interest. That is exactly what the 1965 Voting Rights Act was all about.”
Congressional District 5
Brown is the recipient, or victim dependent upon how you look at it, of a racially gerrymandered district. In 1992, the district was created so that black voters in Central and Northern Florida would have a shot at electing a candidate of their own.
Brown was a member of the state legislature at the time and made the leap to Congress when the new lines were drawn.
The district trickles its way down through eight counties including Seminole and Orange. It resembles that of a vein sliding down someone’s arm it’s so narrow and compact. The idea was to pack as many black voters in the district as possible.
Now, because of a lawsuit and a subsequent court order, Brown’s district is in trouble because of gerrymandering. Those against keeping District 5 intact believe that it has helped to elect more Republicans in districts that surround it.
Keeping the so-called black Congressional political power centralized has been ok if you’re a black voter and live in the district. But if you’re tired of having representation from the right due to Brown’s racially gerrymandered district, this lawsuit was for you.
Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
And in theory, that may be the fault of the state and national party, but more on that at another time as the state’s bench of candidates is pretty much empty
So now that the districts are being redrawn and Brown’s district is in danger of being lost, she’s fighting to keep it.
Because of her two lawsuits to keep her district together, many have labeled her selfish. The thought is that Brown only wants to keep the seat because she doesn’t want to cede power, and that she’s not ready to leave Congress.
That last part has a hint of condescension because it assumes that she couldn’t win in a newly drawn District 5. It also undermines her ability to properly represent the voters who have continued to re-elect her since 1992.
But not only does she believe that tearing her district apart is a violation of the Voting Rights Act, she also thinks that the new districts will not give proper opportunity for black representation.
If Brown loses, who represents black voters in Congress?
Congressional District 10
With Val Demings, Geraldine Thompson, and potentially Gary Siplin all running to replace Congressman Daniel Webster, this undermines Brown’s theory that black representation would be non-existent, right?
Not necessarily.
For the sake of this article, and the awkwardness of the legislature, let’s pretend that the lines are re-drawn to reflect a new District 5 that doesn’t snake to Orlando, and a new District 10 that takes in Orange and leans somewhat left.
Photo courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
That gives Demings, Thompson, and Siplin all a great chance to unseat Webster in a general election. But first one would have to get beyond the primary to see which would represent in the general.
In addition to that, keeping Webster away from voters who lean Dem might be tough.
In 2012 when Demings challenged him the first time, she actually lost Orange County. Those numbers skew right as some of the highest performing precincts in the county were red in 2012. Demings lost those precincts to Webster, and overall, lost the county by a margin of 504 votes.
Those votes may well swing the other way if the district is drawn to skew left, but who’s to say that voters wouldn’t keep the incumbent? 504 votes isn’t enough to guarantee black representation, is it?
Again—all hypothetical—but aren’t we judging the potential of black representation on the theory of an idea and the word “should?”
Because black voters “should” have representation even if Brown isn’t re-elected isn’t good enough.
Three is better than one but there is the chance that all three, Brown, Siplin, and Thompson, could be lost in a general election and black Central Floridians are left with a slate of white representatives.
Brown’s lawsuit isn’t as simple as her want to remain in Congress for the sake of keeping a paycheck. It’s actually a little complicated, and some of what she’s espoused regarding how the lines are being drawn, have merit.
There is no way to guarantee black representation without a racially gerrymandered district, and the word gerrymander is about as cool to Democrats as gay marriage is to Republicans.
It’s also worth noting how many Republicans, including Chief Justice John Roberts, view the Voting Rights Act.
In a 1982 memo, Roberts wrote in a memo that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act would install racial quotas and shouldn’t be upheld.
“An effects test would eventually lead to a quota system in all areas, since only when effects are mathematically proportionate would the test be satisfied.”
In another memo the previous year, Roberts used the argument of state’s rights to justify why the Voting Rights Act wasn’t a necessity.
“Violations of Section 2 should not be made too easy to prove, since they provide a basis for the most intrusive interference imaginable by federal courts into state and local processes.”
This may turn out well if one of the black candidates in District 10 wins. If not, then Brown’s theory of devolution will come true.
It may be too bad that we couldn’t hear the message because we were too concerned about the messenger.
-JH
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