I, for one, am glad that we only have to redrawn the boundaries of the U.S. House Districts once every ten years because whenever that time comes around in most states it generates a tremendous struggle. State legislators draw those boundaries after the census that is taking up every decade. More accurately, the majority party in the state legislature draw those boundaries and, sadly but naturally, the majority party tries to draw the boundaries in a way that is advantageous to it giving it more seats in the Congress or at least protecting the seats they already have.

Are you old enough to remember an election held in every Southern state called “the Democratic White Primary?” That is the name that was given to the real General Election. It was used by all Southern states and black people were not permitted to vote much less run for office. Needless to say, that kept blacks out of office until late in the 1960’s when Congress passed the Voter Rights Act that demanded a fair electoral system be established and removing the obstacle Southern states placed between African Americans and the voting booth. In 2006, that Act was extended for 25 years by a vote of 90 to nothing in the Senate and 390 to 32 in the House. You might think therefore it was secure for the next quarter of a century but that is not the case.

Serious efforts are being discussed to undercut the Act or to go around it. A history of prejudice and discrimination is so deeply embedded in Texas and most of the other Southern states that every effort must continue to be made to protect minorities from their full rights as American citizens.

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