African American Group Asks Justice Department to Investigate Legislative Map
Central Illinois Senate districts in the map enacted by Democrats this summer. An African American group has asked the U.S. Justice Department to review whether Democrats violated the Illinois Voting Rights Act when drawing the new plans.
A group of African Americans critical of the Democrat-drawn legislative redistricting plan is asking the United States Department of Justice to investigate the new map.
Via a press release:
Illinois African Americans for Equitable Redistricting (IAAFER), on behalf of the State’s Black Voters, filed a complaint with the U. S. Department of Justice regarding policies and practices that have led to Black voter dilution and retrogression of the number of Black Voting districts in the state of Illinois. IAAFER also shared concerns regarding prison gerrymandering and how the practice will divert over $800 million from Black communities to prison towns between now and the next Census. (A recently enacted law calls for the end of the practice effective 2025. That has the same effect as pushing the law off until 2030.)
The state of Illinois has recently enacted the most retrogressive redistricting plan in the State of Illinois' history. The number of majority Black representative districts have been cut from 16 in 2011, to 8 in 2021. The number of Black senate districts has been cut from 8 to 4. These are the lowest numbers of majority Black districts in 40 years. Ironically, the State of Illinois has a Progressive White Governor and Senate President and Black people in key positions, including Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Illinois, Speaker of the House, Vice Chairperson of the Senate Redistricting Committee and Vice Chairperson of the House Redistricting Committee. The Illinois Legislative Black Caucus is the largest it has ever been, and arguably, the most powerful it has ever been.
Black people comprised 14% of Illinois’ population in 2011, and still comprise 14% of Illinois’ population in 2021. However, the number of majority Black districts has been cut by 50%. White people comprised 60% of Illinois’ population in 2011, and 58% of Illinois’ population in 2021. Yet, 69% if the districts drawn in the redistricting plan, are majority White. In fact, two new majority White representative districts were formed by dismantling a majority Black district in East St. Louis, Illinois.
Norman Montgomery, the Executive Director of Neighborhood Development Services, NFP (NDS), and one of the members of IAAFER’s leadership team, shared his perspectives. “As a tax-exempt organization, NDS doesn’t do politics. But the data behind the maps don’t seem to tell the same story that the boundaries show”, he added.
Montgomery continued, “We also don’t know how Blacks of mixed race are being counted. In the past they were counted as Black. Now, the Census Bureau breaks them out into separate categories that span across all major race categories”. Montgomery also took the opportunity to share a light moment in a dark situation. “Let me break it down another way. It used to be that one drop of Black blood made you Black. Now, we don’t know how many drops it takes to make you Black”, Montgomery laughed. “Seriously, if we’re not careful, the data can be used to justify maps that, not only don’t work, but effectively dilute the Black vote.”
Some legislative districts that were historically Black, have been re-drawn to be majority Minority, when there were opportunities to draw these districts in a manner that retained or restored their historic majority Black status, pursuant to the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. Adding insult to injury, some of these historically Black Districts had their descriptions changed to de-emphasize the low-income Black communities while emphasizing more affluent White communities, even though the most affluent White communities comprise less than 10% of the land mass of the districts. “The data suggest that the Democrats have effectively used the Illinois Voting Rights Act of 2011 to subvert the Voting Rights Act of 1965”, Leonard said. “What we have here is political gentrification that supports the displacement of Black residents from changing communities in these districts.”
Ironically, the current Illinois Attorney General, served as the Senate Redistricting Committee Chair in 2011, when the State of Illinois passed the most diverse redistricting plan in history, optimizing opportunities for Blacks, Latinos and Asians to elect candidates of choice. He will be defending the Illinois State Board of Elections in a lawsuit brought by Republicans and MALDEF, citing Voting Rights claims, among other things.
Republicans have sued over the legislative plan. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) has also sued arguing a reduction in the number of Latino-majority districts actually decreases in the new map while Hispanics have overtaken African Americans as the state’s second largest population group.
Congressional maps are likely to be introduced later this month.