BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — For nearly 30 years, the small town of Mansfield has been headed by a white Republican in Louisiana’s congressional delegation, even though its population is about 80% black and heavily Democratic.
The situation changed completely with last year’s US election. Rep. Cleo Fieldsa black Democrat who was able to win after a newly drawn political map was carved out. Black-majority 2nd Congressional District In the state.
Mansfield Mayor Thomas Jones Jr. said he and others finally feel as though their community is represented in the nation’s capital.
“We feel connected, like someone is helping us,” he said.
Fields’ seat, and what Jones describes as an advantage of having him in Washington, could disappear depending on how things go. United States Supreme Court rules of case You’ll hear it on Wednesday.
The district represented by Fields is fierce battle by civil rights groups representing black voters in the state. Leaders of predominantly black communities across the 218-mile (350-kilometer) district said they felt he had finally given the black community a voice to represent their needs.
But opponents say The district was unconstitutionally gerrymandered. Based on race. If the court ultimately rules in favor of the plaintiffs, the ruling could have ramifications far beyond this part of Louisiana. There is a possibility that the last breadwinner, who has reached the age of 60, will be forced out. voting rights law Preventing black voters from challenging political maps that diminish their influence.
Court ruling prompts states to draw new districts
Louisiana’s new 6th Congressional District cuts across the state in a narrow diagonal path, roughly following the Red River. It stretches from Baton Rouge, the state capital in southern Louisiana, to Shreveport in the northwestern part of the state.
This district includes some or all of 10 parishes. It unites regions of the state that some would argue have vastly different priorities, geography, economics, and even gumbo recipes.
Fields said he is aware of criticism about the serpentine shape of the majority-black district, but maintains it is contiguous and that all of the state’s congressional districts are geographically large and represent both urban and rural areas. More importantly, he said, the district gives “people of color an opportunity, not a guarantee, to elect the candidate of their choice.”
“When I’m told I have to jump a certain height, I can work on it. When I’m told I have to run faster, I can work on it,” he said. “But you say I have to be white, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
In 2022, the Republican-controlled Louisiana Legislature drew congressional boundaries. Maintain one black majority district and five majority-white districts in a state where about one-third of the population is black. Later a federal judge destroyed the map He was charged with violating the Voting Rights Act and faced serious charges the following year. recognized by the Supreme Court Alabama had to create its own second majority black congressional district.
Rather than forcing the Republican-controlled Louisiana Legislature and Republican governor to let judges draw the maps; Passed the current map This created a second black majority district.
Black residents now make up 54% of registered voters in Fields, up from 24% previously.
Lawmakers who “understand the plight of the people”
Older black residents in many parts of the South still remember that. Jim Crow era methods These are issues surrounding voting, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, which aim to take away the right to vote.
In Louisiana, civil rights groups argued that the absence of second-majority minority congressional districts was a modern effort to weaken black voting power. For decades, with a brief exception in the 1990s, Louisiana had only one majority-black district.
“When you have only one black representative, it feels like he represents every African American in the state,” said state Rep. Dennis Marcel, a black Democrat from East Baton Rouge Parish.
When a second majority black district was created, some leaders said it didn’t necessarily matter whether their area was included. It was more important that it existed.
“I’m not necessarily married to the current map configuration. … I’m not married to the representative that is Congressman Fields,” said City Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr., a Black Democrat. “We knew that by having a minority population represented in the 2nd Congressional District, the person sitting in that seat would represent the values of the Congressional Black Caucus. That’s important.”
Dunn said he was friends with and had access to the Republican who represented the district even before it was redrawn. But Dunn said he also saw the world politically from a different perspective.
“We feel positive that we have a representative who understands the plight of the people, the needs of the people, and who will fight for them,” he said.
Make Congress happen for your district
Local leaders in the Fields area cited a variety of needs, including providing low-income housing, protecting and expanding Medicaid, keeping local hospitals open, addressing food deserts, and funding community centers and other infrastructure.
From helping residents access Social Security benefits to working to secure federal funding for local projects, some say the benefits have been tangible during Mr. Fields’ short tenure. Several people mentioned Fields’ popularity within the district.
“Frankly, the important thing I’ve been doing over the last nine months is connecting Congress with the people,” Fields said.
Jones, the Mansfield mayor, said he has worked in local government for nearly 20 years and cannot remember a time when councilors held a town hall meeting in his area. Fields has held it three times.
One of the priorities for this town of 4,000 people is finding grants to repair and replace a broken sewage system that backs up into people’s homes and overflows into the streets when it rains.
Jones said he has been seeking funding for five years. The limited funding the town received was used for patchwork repairs, but with Fields’ support, a grant is expected to be approved next year and he hopes system issues will be resolved, he said.
As far as Jones can remember, this was the first time a council member contacted him about possible funding and asked for a list of the town’s priorities.
“I feel like he’s reaching out to us so that someone understands our needs and wants to help us,” Jones said.
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Associated Press writer Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.
