I mentioned House Rep. Mel Watt last week in my post about the Gerrymandered Census. As I stated before Watt is one of the most liberal members of the Congress and the only way he continues to get elected is because of gerrymandered districts.
The National Journal has posted the top 10 most liberal and conservative members of the Congress. It’s no surprise that Watt is tied for first. Is Watt really representing the average voter in the state of North Carolina?
The 10 Most Liberal House Dems 1. Rush Holt (D-NJ) 1. Gwen Moore (D-WI) 1. John Olver (D-MA) 1. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) 1. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) 1. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) 1. Mel Watt (D-NC) 1. Henry Waxman (D-CA) 9. Kathy Castor (D-FL) 10. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL)
One of my pet peeves about the Census is that there are far too many questions that don’t need to be asked. Question 8 asks if a person is of Hispanic origin while Question 9 asks about race. The Constitution requires a census to help draw up Congressional districts; however, that data is being twisted to draw up crazy-snake districts. It’s odd that in a nation that champions equality we have districts in place specifically designed to have a disproportional amount of one race or another.
The U.S. Census webpage has an interactive chart that explains each question on the census. The justification for Question 9 is puzzling.
Race has been asked since 1790 but not because of the Voting Rights or Civil Rights Acts. Initially, only property owners were allowed to vote and African Americans were slaves in most cases. At this stage of our glorious Republic it’s not necessary to know what the race of a citizen is anymore. We are all supposed to be equal. If some Americans wish to know the percentage of the population that’s white or black a simple survey will suffice. The snake districts that have been created over the past century were designed with the justification to create African American districts when in fact they’re designed to create non-competitive districts for Republicans and Democrats.
Nothing better represents gerrymandered district like North Carolina’s Congressional 12th district. When I was living in Charlotte in 2003 my sister lived in Winston-Salem and my parents lived in Statesville. These cities were over an hour drive apart in different directions yet we were all somehow in the same district. It’s not surprising the representative from this district is Mel Watt. Watt is one of the most socialist members of Congress and would never get elected in North Carolina, but he’s reelected every election thanks to this ludicrous district drawn up in Raleigh. Congressional districts should be drawn based on population and not race. It’s time this disgusting practice is abolished.
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