I chose the editorial Council Should Learn From Flawed Redistricting from the Dallas Morning News and it covered the risky business that went on during redistricting that caused a down fall. After months of debating and redrawing lines the ending result of the map was not looked at as successful. The editorial stated that city officials should realize what was done wrong so that they may learn from their mistakes by the next decade. It was said that racial politics got in the way of good decision making. This was when gerrymandering really took effect and it took a toll on the new redistricting map for the city of Dallas. Apparently deals were made behind closed doors, and the result of this was a map that shortchanged Latinos and favored incumbents (current holders of political office). Mayor Mike Rawlings has already taken action to improve the bad redistricting job by starting to work through details and make changes to the city's charter.
When I read this editorial the first thing that came to mind was what we learned in class about Gerrymandering. My first reaction to gerrymandering was that it shouldnt be allowed. Manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency just to favor one class is unfair and unlawful in my opinion. I don't believe gerrymandering should be legal but unfortunately it is. I also don't agree with the fact that the redistricting was based off of racial politics. A district should not be made based off of race, and the city should not be segregated. This gives the incumbents and advantage and that just seems unfair. I think it's in Rawlings best interest to do as much as he can to prevent this from happening again in the next redistricting year. Its time for a change, and I believe its time to prevent gerrymandering as much as possible so that its the people who are favored, not our political leaders.
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