The US Census Bureau has not released the complete 2020 Census data, however it has released enough data for the Greensboro City Council to redraw the City Council districts.
At the special virtual meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 31, the City Council is scheduled to approve a citizens’ redistricting committee. At the August 26 work session, the City Council more or less agreed on the seven organizations that will be appointing one member each to the citizens redistricting committee.
There was also the suggestion from Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter that at least one of the organizations that had proposed appointing a black male to the committee be encouraged to rescind the proposed appointment and replace that appointment with a black female.
The City Council was operating with limited information at the Aug. 26 work session because the consultant hired by the council to facilitate the appointment of the committee would not divulge which six of the seven organizations had made their appointments.
La-Deidre Matthews, from the law firm Parker Poe, who has been hired as the consultant to facilitate the appointment of the committee said she could give the City Council the demographic information about the proposed appointees but not their names or which organizations had made the appointments because of an agreement with the organizations.
Because of concern about the demographics of the proposed committee, which included three black males, two white females and one white male, Mayor Nancy Vaughan asked that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) be replaced with the Greensboro International Advisory Committee to make an appointment. But it was unknown to the City Council whether the ACLU had made its appointment or not.
Vaughan also supported Abuzuaiter’s suggestion that at least one organization that had made an appointment of a black male be encouraged to rescind that proposed appointment and appoint a black female to the committee.
Vaughan said that it appeared her suggestions had the support of a majority of the City Council, but no vote was taken.
If Vaughan’s proposal was followed then the organizations appointing members to the citizens redistricting committee would be the League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad, the Greensboro Neighborhood Congress, the Greensboro Chapter of the NAACP, the George C. Simkins Jr. Political Action Committee, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, the Triad Real Estate and Building Industry Coalition (TREBIC) and the Greensboro International Advisory Committee.
Two councilmembers, Sharon Hightower and Justin Outling, objected to the Chamber of Commerce and TREBIC being allowed to appoint members. Both of those organizations had been added at the Vaughan’s request.
A majority of the City Council expressed opposition to not having any black females on the list of proposed appointees.
If as Vaughan said a consensus for her proposed changes was reached, it was a tenuous consensus at best and could fall apart when the council is given more information about the proposed committee members.
Can you re-district me out of the County, without my having to move?
Watch how they fix this up too! The more they stir it the more it smells of gerrymandering.
Jack It is not gerrymandering when Democrats do it.
Why not hires those “qualified”? Race alone should not be a determination. Could this action be considered “racist” if you only place an individual in a position due to race but lack qualifications? City council can do best, but they won’t?
You’re right. Maybe they should go with:
1 male & 1 female, both White
1 male & 1 female, both Black
1 male & 1 female, both Hispanic
1 male & 1 female, races other than the above
and lastly, one person who identifies themselves as neither male or female, and does not choose a race, etc.
They also need to comply with age discrimination laws so they must include some who are over 65
See where this is going? Bonkers if you ask me.
Your entire argument is founded on the racist idea that in two groups of people of different races (or genders or bank account size or neighborhood or….), only one group has any qualified people. There are qualified people in all of the groups – we need to get them to apply – and view their diversity as an asset to the role and committees they’ll serve on.
What qualification are you looking for that wouldn’t have people of every race, gender, and background meet and exceed?
What you’re trying to say is only get the absolute top most qualified people. Unfortunately, there is not a test or clear measuring stick when talking about a lifetime of qualifications to compare two very different people. And, we end up making decisions based on our individual and collective biases. You probably think the high school student with straight A’s and played a sport and led a club is going to be the best college student. That’s rarely how it works. They have a skill set to play the school game, but when they have to live and work in the real world it’s all of the other things that don’t necessarily shine on a resume that start to matter more and more.
You probably don’t realize it and even when it’s pointed out to you are going to be all defensive – “I’m not a racist”. And you know what, you probably are not racist. But, you are perpetuating racist ideas whether you mean to or not.
Why does race matter if WE are All equal? Just by the choose of a person by race proves that we KNOW that All people are NOT equal. The concentration on race shows that we ALL know that we are NOT all the same value and therefore MUST choose persons by race for positions instead of just human beings. Respect given gives respect back and appreciation for each of us to each other. We will NEVER live in harmony until WE learn how to live in PEACE with respect for each other. There is NO hope the way things are going these days. STOP the RACE choice toe being a new way of life for ALL of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!