{"id":44671,"date":"2022-02-10T11:16:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T19:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=44671"},"modified":"2022-02-10T11:17:47","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T19:17:47","slug":"concerned-residents-ask-council-to-create-fair-maps-reflective-of-tuscaloosas-minority-majority-population-keep-historic-districts-together-as-community-of-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=44671","title":{"rendered":"Concerned residents ask council to create fair maps reflective of Tuscaloosa\u2019s minority-majority population, keep historic districts together as community of interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A group of 20 Tuscaloosa residents spoke at a public hearing on the city\u2019s redistricting map last week calling on the city to consider a map created by concerned citizens that accounts for Tuscaloosa being a minority-majority city. Residents will have one more opportunity to voice their concerns on Monday.<\/p>\n

The 2020 Census showed that Tuscaloosa\u2019 population is now 52.1 percent non-white, but concerned citizens say they current city council representation do not reflect that.<\/p>\n

Tuscaloosa\u2019s population has increased by approximately 9,000 people since the 2010 census. Most of the growth was among non-white communities, mainly Black residents. Less than 5 percent of the growth were white residents. In 2010, 52 percent of Tuscaloosa residents were white. According to the 2020 census, only 47.9 percent of Tuscaloosa is white.<\/p>\n

Mike Altman of Tuscaloosa Action<\/a> spoke first.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a majority non-white city now,\u201d he siad. \u201cFour out of the seven districts should be non-white. That\u2019s going to look like a Black majority in Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Altman referenced section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and said Tuscaloosa needs a map that is fair and legal. Altman said that the city\u2019s proposed maps pack a lot of black voters in District 7. He said the problem lies in how the line is drawn between District 6 and 7.<\/p>\n

Altman said the Tuscaloosa Action\u2019s <\/a>map submitted to the city gives four majority black districts. He said it better reflects the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n

Altman said that none of the city\u2019s maps are fair or legal.<\/p>\n

Emily Altman said citizens have been calling for more transparency in this process and that the public hearing was a good start.<\/p>\n

She said that any map that does not include a fourth black district violates federal law.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou, the council, need to ask yourself what side of history you want to be on,\u201d she said. \u201cIn June of 1964, T.Y. Rogers led a march from First African Baptist Church to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse to protest segregation. They never made it to the courthouse because of the violence by white residents who met them in the streets. Things like this Bloody Tuesday don\u2019t happen in this town anymore. Thank God. This is not what racial inequality looks like, but at the time, the people in the streets attacking those marchers thought they were right. We can see now that they were on the wrong side of history. Now, racial inequality looks like a map that suppresses black voters. Racial inequality now, isn\u2019t Jim Crow signs. It\u2019s district lines, but the same question is in front of you, councilors, will you be on the right side of history? Will you be on the side of fairness, equality and what is right? This isn\u2019t just about what neighborhood votes where. It\u2019s a deeply moral issue. When I go to sleep at night, I don\u2019t want to think I was on the wrong side of history. I couldn\u2019t go to sleep at night and think I passed a racist redistricting map. As a Christian, I not only believe in God\u2019s call for justice in this world, I also believe that there is a reckoning \u2013 either here or in the hereafter. If you pass one these unfair and racist maps you will have to live with that and you\u2019ll have to be accountable for that on this side of heaven or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lisa Young of the Tuscaloosa Chapter of the NAACP<\/a> said she wanted to support Tuscaloosa Action\u2019s proposed map.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a collaborative effort across districts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

James Williams said the Southern Christian Leadership Conference is supporting the changing of the districts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to see Tuscaloosa, Alabama become a leading city in doing what is right and what is fair. So, I ask you all to come together and work together and work with the people of Tuscaloosa and do the right thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Robert Embody said he moved to Tuscaloosa in 2015. He said he has witnessed redistricting in other areas he has lived and the proposed city maps are racist and illegal. He encouraged the council to make decisions that were fair and that would not end in costly litigation. He said he supports the map endorsed by the Tuscaloosa NAACP.<\/p>\n

Amber Buck said she believes representation and accurate representation matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat starts with drawing district lines that accurately represent our city\u2019s demographics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Buck said that means a fourth majority-minority district in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an opportunity to do that right here the first time,\u201d she said. \u201cThe council has the opportunity to do this correctly from the start to avoid the litigation that has held up the Alabama Congressional map and to avoid a situation where the city council would have to redraw a map hastily under a court rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another issue that was brought up is historic districts residents asking that all the historic districts be placed in the same city council district since they are communities of interest.<\/p>\n

Cmdr. Landon Miller spoke about the historic district and the city\u2019s map A, which puts all of the historic districts together. He said he was speaking in favor of any map that consolidates the historic districts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a community of shared interests I believe is very important to the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Easty Lambert Brown, who lives and owns a business in Tuscaloosa\u2019s historic districts, said she wanted to support map proposal A by the city. She said the historic districts need to be represented by one councilperson.<\/p>\n

Sandra Ray said she lives in the downtown historic district. She said that for decades the historic districts were represented by one councilperson until 2001. Since then, the district has had some issues such as student housing encroachment, alcohol sales and vandalism. She said she felt that splitting the historic districts diluted the community\u2019s voice. Ray said those who live in the historic districts are a community of interest.<\/p>\n

Chris Kyle said he hopes that they will return all the historic districts as they were before \u2013 together.<\/p>\n

Sara Davis and Kelly Fitz also supported the reunification of the historic districts as well.<\/p>\n

City Councilor Lee Busby, who had to leave the meeting early, said, \u201cI would ask in the future to be very sensitive about using the word racist. If it\u2019s racist call it racist. I will tell you that word is viscerally insulting to many of the people up here. If it\u2019s just that you don\u2019t agree with it, then let\u2019s talk about the parts you don\u2019t agree with. But I would ask you to be very sensitive about that because I have watched these seven people up here in chambers, and I\u2019m telling you I could not be more proud of a group of people who strive to get past racial differences and get to the right answers for Tuscaloosa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilor Kip Tyner said the council would look at the map created by Tuscaloosa Action and endorsed by the Tuscaloosa NAACP.<\/p>\n

The council will have a second public hearing on Valentines Day, February 14, at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of 20 Tuscaloosa residents...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s-a"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44671"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44672,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44671\/revisions\/44672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}