A cracked community

Reflections of the community as politicians’ gerrymandering looms

Graphic by Sofia Mang, Junior Podcast Editor

Bedansh Pandey, Copy Editor & Reagan Horne, Staff Writer

This month, the Johns Creek, Ga. community is occupied with the results of its municipal elections. Yet, November also marks the beginning of the Georgia General Assembly Special Session, in which both the Georgia State House and Georgia State Senate will convene for three months to redraw the state’s congressional districts, a process that occurs every 10 years after a collection of census data. 

Historically, the redrawing of these districts has paved the way for lawmakers to gerrymander, or manipulate the boundaries of a congressional district to favor one party over another. In the process, though, this can ultimately lead to a lack of representation for traditionally marginalized communities. 

“Race is always a major factor in unfair gerrymandering. The intentional manipulation of the redistricting process to reduce the political power of certain racial groups in Georgia and across the nation is well documented,” Mishara Davis, the vice president of WomenEngaged, said. “Legislators must listen carefully to communities, especially those of color who are most likely to be harmed by unfair districts.”

Unfair districts, Davis explains, could have a number of disastrous effects on low-income, Black communities that are slowly starting to rebuild themselves. More specifically, students state that they can feel the effects of past gerrymandering within the public education system, as Debbie Olorunisola, a former Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) system student, explained. Olorunisola used to be a student at a Title I high school, but she transitioned to a more financially endowed one. The difference, she says, is due to a lack of proper representation in her previous community. 

“One of my main takeaways after all these years is that families throughout Georgia, especially low-income families, need to be able to advocate for better school funding, but this is difficult when their voices are diluted through gerrymandering,” Olorunisola said. “Just as it is important for one to feel recognized within the classroom, community members must also be given the opportunity to be heard through their representatives so that they may exercise their drive to better their communities.”

However, the reason Olorunisola and Davis believe this year’s redistricting process is especially pressing is because of the lack of regulation that exists within the process. Ken Lawler, the chair of Fair Districts Georgia, a nonpartisan organization seeking to advocate for a transparent redistricting process, stated that there are no guidelines that prevent partisanship from existing in what he believes should be a nonpartisan matter. 

“We define fair maps as not favoring one political party over another, yet reflecting natural political preferences of Georgia’s population. In addition, fair maps must provide adequate minority representation complying with the voting rights act,” Lawler said.

Yet, Davis elaborates that 2021 is the first year that the regulations of the Voting Rights Act are not in place, making the situation for minority communities, like those in Johns Creek, Ga., more dire. 

There have also been questions regarding the transparency of the redistricting process. LaVita Tuff, the policy director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Atlanta (AAAJ), believes that public access to the Georgia General Assembly’s timeline and drafts for new districts has been less than adequate, citing the inherent language barrier in these institutions. 

“2020 proved that Georgians want to be civically engaged, and that includes a desire to be an active participant in the reapportionment process,” Tuff said. “Yet, with English-only approaches and methods, the Georgia legislature will for sure leave out those who want to be engaged, educated, and informed. When key information is restricted to English, other residents are deterred from engaging and participating in the redistricting process.”

Nearly 80% of foreign-born residents in Johns Creek, Ga speak a language other than English at home and approximately 7,562 of these residents do not speak English very well. This means that, according to Tuff’s argument, approximately upwards of 7,000 individuals are being alienated by current redistricting processes. 

However, the Georgia General Assembly Committee on Reapportionment also held public hearings in an attempt to gain public input on the redistricting process while meeting the demands of constituents like Tuff who are calling for increased transparency. Even still, Christian Dent, a rising senior in Henry County who also serves as the current youth governor of Georgia, pointed out the irony in such a notion. 

“With all due respect to this committee, I find it redundant that the citizens of Georgia have to voice themselves through a computer screen to politicians who are in turn going to choose their own voters by drawing their own districts,” Dent said. 

Dent, Lawler, and many others in the state are demanding the creation of an independent redistricting commission, which would draw districts according to purely demographic changes. Lawler points out that Fair Districts Georgia has collaborated with the Princeton Gerrymandering Project to produce drafts of maps that would redraw districts impartially. 

The future of redistricting in Georgia is unclear. With the new maps of the senate redistricting committee receiving an “F” in terms of partisan fairness according to the Princeton Gerrymandering Project (a nonpartisan organization that seeks to eliminate gerrymandering on the state level through statistical analyses), Lawler believes it is hard to say what the long-term impact this could have on Democratic representation. Regardless of their impact, though, many believe unfair districts will only add to a growing trend of the corrosion of democratic values in the state and across the nation. 

“Fair redistricting ensures that political leaders can be held accountable by their communities,” Davis said. “Voters should choose their politicians—not the other way around.”