Oct 13 2008
Summerville Councilman Upset Over Redistricting, Not Enough Blacks
SUMMERVILLE — A plan to redraw voting districts to reflect the town’s rapid growth is running into opposition from council’s only black member.
The redistricting plan shrinks the share of black residents in Aaron Brown’s district to 35 percent, down from about 50 percent several years ago. Council aims to have the new plan in place before May, when Brown and two other council members are up for re-election.
Brown, a former teacher and insurance salesman, was the only councilman to vote against the plan on first reading last week. He’s urging the town to do more homework to boost the minority numbers in his district before the new plan gets final approval at next month’s council meeting.
“Personally, I don’t think we’ve explored all the options yet to get the numbers up,” Brown said after the vote. “It would be a shame if we have not explored our options and we ship it off to the Justice Department.”
Why does Brown deserve to have a district carved out specifically for him just because of the color of his skin? It’s his responsibility as a city councilman to represent all of his constituents, not just the ones that look the way he does. We are long passed the days of Jim Crow in this country. The idea that certain racial groups need to have a representative of the same racial makeup as themself is archaic. Are we or are we not all Americans? People like Councilman Brown will preach to you the need for a color blind society, but those same people will be the first ones to keep the divisions intact.
