The 6th is the city's "swing" district with a roughly equal number of black and white residents. The city has a slight majority of racial minorities. Three council districts are majority white, and three are majority black. Voters in the 6th District get to decide which racial group will hold the majority on the seven-member City Council. Blacks have held the majority for only one term since the 3-3-1 alignment was devised.
Thaxton's withdrawal means a newcomer will represent District 6. Thaxton has endorsed Logan Liles, a former Wilson County Board of Education member, but it's unclear how much clout that endorsement will hold. The four candidates still in the race are divided, it seems appropriately, equally by race. Two whites — Logan Liles and Daryl Barber — face two blacks — Brenda Avery and George Pope. The racial groups are divided into more mainstream and more controversial parts. Liles and Avery are the more mainstream candidates while Barber, who once ran for mayor and has been a frequent critic of local and national political figures in letters to the editor, and Pope, a former bombastic radio host, are the more controversial. Liles and Avery, a frequent companion of Councilman A.P. Coleman, would fit in with other council members. It's hard to imagine Barber and Pope — especially Pope, whose caustic broadcast criticism of Mayor Bruce Rose went beyond even fringe politics — going along and getting along.
Winners of this year's council race will get the task of redrawing district lines after the 2010 census. An appropriate question for council candidates should be whether they would support reforms to create some at-large council districts. With the electorate roughly equally divided by race, at-large districts should not provide an advantage to either race. A revised council with four members elected by districts (two majority white and two majority black) and three members elected at-large would give voters more options and more clout at the polls. And it would save District 6 voters from the burden of deciding whether City Council would be majority-white or majority-black.
"Two whites — Logan Liles and Daryl Barber — face two blacks — Brenda Avery and George Pope"
ReplyDeleteThank you for that PSA. Code words notwithstanding, I don't personally care what color they are. But you seem to be implying we should.
What's next? Black people will only vote for black people? And vice versa? How very sad.
"Voters in the 6th District get to decide which racial group will hold the majority on the seven-member City Council."
So on the ballot it says. "Do you want the white person or the black person?"
What a missed opportunity. No wonder Wilson is racially polarized.
We might all wish that race was not a factor in elections, but it is, especially in an election in which federal law has mandated three majority-minority districts. Before the Justice Department ordered majority-minority districts, Wilson voters had elected at-large two minority members of City Council. While it is possible that a minority might win in the predominantly white districts or that a white candidate might win in the minority districts, it has never happened since the advent of majority-minority districts. That leaves District 6 where candidates of both races have a realistic chance of winning; therefore, District 6 voters decide which race holds the majority of seats. My point is that some at-large districts would make race less of a factor and encourage more cross-racial politicking.
ReplyDeletenewsy says:
ReplyDelete"What's next? Black people will only vote for black people? And vice versa? How very sad."
what's next? People already vote along racial lines. Next?
The naacp makes sure of that!