At the city level - The City Of Philadelphia is a "one party town". All but one of its city council districts are controlled by Democrats. (I believe that they also have one or two Republicans elected to "at large" council seats. ) The balance of power was 14 Democrats and 3 Republicans on City Council. The executive branch of the City of Philadelphia has been controlled by Democrats throughout the city's modern history.
Yet when it comes to the drawing of district lines the most spirited RACIAL battles come from Hispanic Democrats and Black Democrats seeking to protect their boundaries from manipulation by fellow Democrats of other races.
It is clear that that which is called "racist" when done by White conservatives - seeking to maximize their political footprint is labeled as "diversity maximization" and/or "minority representation", regardless of the same machinations and motivations practiced by all.
About 3 months ago I drove the streets of my hometown of Philadelphia. Whatever scheme that has been executed has failed miserably in many of the neighborhoods. It is clear that what once was a transparent process of representation for the "rank & file" has become a culture of politics that lives to have yet another day of politics.
According to a community newspaper that I picked up the young upstart Black Progressive Democrats sought to remove the old-guard Black Progressive Democrats that have held the seats of power since the 1970's and are unwilling to yield.
The redistricting conflict within Philadelphia shows that ideology and party are merely covers for the racial "one upsmanship" that is taking place and that too is supplanted by the pure desire for power.
State Level Redistricting
I applaud "Radio Times" for including the city and the state-level redistricting battle into one story. The two together allows the listener to understand the dynamics of race, party, ideology and power.
Whereas the Republican Party in Philadelphia is all but non-existent - the state-wide Republicans hit the jackpot in the 2010 election season. They now have a Republican governor and a Republican controlled state legislature - through which the redistricting process will pass through as the lines are drawn.
The state Republicans seek to maximize their power in the state. The eroding population base of the state meant that Pennsylvania has lost one US House seat to the faster growing states in the Southeast and Southwest. The scheming Republicans are tasked on deciding how to retain their power base and take the seat away from a Democrat.
The key difference between the state-level horse trading and that which was seen in Philadelphia is that the Democratic Party in the context of the state has the balance of Black and Hispanic voters who are ready to call the actions of the state Republicans "Racist(!!!)". With the Black/Hispanic and Progressive ideology so affiliated with the Democratic Party - the tenant of "Disparate Impact" means that when "The White People's Party" - the Republicans - do exactly what the individual Democrats did in the name of RACE within Philadelphia - they are labeled as "Racists(!!!)" whereas the Philadelphia Democrats (and Tom Joyner, Bev Smith and Dr Ron Daniels) do not fear being called as such despite their blatant statements and actions affirming so.
The Need To Look Past The Methodology And Note The Failed Results
Anyone who dares ask Black people "What have we gotten from being promoted as starters in the Malcolm X Political Football Game?" will be thought of as a secret agent, seeking to pull the Black vote out of play so that the enemy of Black people - the Republicans can have their way with us. This consciousness sets up the "Black Voter Nullification" effect - where no matter how incompetent the presiding machine shows themselves over our key institutions and their ability to provide the promised force of uplift..................if the enemies of Black people were in charge - nothing would change. So said Warren Ballentine the other day.
The flaw in this logic is that it is forced to ignore the INVESTMENTS that our people were compelled to make. After this struggle has run its course and fallen short - instead of being forced, in the name of contrition to explain themselves - they show their lack of respect for our institutions and do the redirect to their enemies.
Imagine if you invested your money into a Ford so that it might take you to work. It fails, breaking down far before you got your return on your investment. The Ford salesman who sold you the car, telling you of its reliability is now heard reminding that you still need transportation in the future to get back and forth to work and, BESIDES had you purchased a Chevy - it would have broken down long before the Ford.
Would this sales man have your confidence? Or would you be talking to the Better Business Bureau, FTC and the new consumer protection agency?
This is the popular argument in today's Black political discourse.
Sadly the redistricting battles fail to compensate for the "votes of no confidence" that "Black Flight Progressives" express as they call in a U-Haul van and move away from "Mission Accomplished Districts" that they assisted in erecting but which fall short of their permanent interests.
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