By Tanya R. DeVaughn, NDG Contributing Writer
Irving Independent School District’s (Irving ISD) new single-member districts are a step in the right direction, but not good enough to critics and if not careful, the district is a “racial powder keg that can go off at any moment.”
If you have followed the debate regarding Irving ISD providing adequate representation on the school board, you are aware the U.S. Justice Department approved the proposed 5-2 voting plan for electing future trustees in September. Under this plan, the school district would feature five single-member districts and two at-large seats. While community leaders consider this an improvement to the present at-large voting system, they feel the 5-2 voting plan will not allow for proper representation in a school district where approximately 71.51 percentage of the students are Hispanic, 12.47 percentage are African-American, 10.74 percentage are White, 3.42 percentage are Asian, and 1.86 percentage are other according to the district in December 2011. The current board members are all white.
Manny Benavidez, the person who initially sued the school district in favor of single member districts strongly opposes the 5-2 voting plan. He believes the 7-0 voting plan would better reflect the total make-up of the district and give Hispanics a voice. According to Benavidez, the reason the 7-0 voting plan did not pass is due to politics, and a lack of focus on the real issue – the classroom.
“The current board members don’t want to relinquish their power,” says Benavidez. “They are also unable to review the present curriculum and determine how it should be focused toward Hispanic students. The board thinks things are good because students are excelling, but it’s only 2-3 percentage of students that are doing great. What about the other 98 percentage who need extra help, most of whom are Latinos?” He said the U.S. Justice Department did not do their research and if the 5-2 voting plan is implemented, it will most likely be challenged.
The Bickel & Brewer Storefront (the community service affiliate of the Bickel & Brewer Law Firm) will handle any future litigation. Attorney William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer Storefront provided this statement to the North Dallas Gazette: “Based on the success of our recent Voting Rights Act case in Farmers Branch, we believe the Irving ISD proposed redistricting plan would be unlawful by failing to give Hispanic voters an opportunity to meaningfully participate in the electoral process,” says Brewer. “In our view, it is unfortunate that the Department of Justice did not more closely review the proposed plan.”
Brewer continued, “The fact remains that a voting district can be constructed that includes a majority of Latino citizens of voting age population. If the Irving ISD moves forward with a plan that does not have such a district, we hope and believe our client will allow us to challenge the plan in court.” Brewer observed that the Department of Justice has noted that its lack of objection “does not bar subsequent litigation to enjoin the enforcement of the changes.”
Community leader and former Irving NAACP president Anthony Bond, is very disappointed with the U.S. Justice Department’s decision and feels it is time for courts to come in and make sure Irving has a fair and equitable way of representing trustees on the school board that will be favorable to the majority in the district. He feels democracy is based on a majority rule. Irving ISD is majority Hispanic, and Hispanics have no board representation.
While Bond thinks the 5-2 voting plan is an improvement, it still gives the advantage to the ‘old white guard’ to acquire those two at-large seats. Bond believes in the importance of Hispanics having equal representation and will support any efforts to push for a 7-0 voting plan. He also agrees with Benavidez’s contention that the school curriculum must change to reflect the ethnicity of its students. Bond feels the district is a “racial powder keg that can go off at any moment.”
According to Bond, eligible Hispanic and African-American candidates were on the ballot in the past, but elderly whites – a consistent voting block – outvoted the racial majority voting populations. The most revealing reason the diverse candidates did not win was voter apathy; parents of Hispanic, African-American and Asian students just did not come out to vote. Bond believes if they had all come out to vote, the minority, in this case Whites, would not control the board seats.
Bond says parents should be ashamed of their in-activity in the Irving ISD. He pointed out often parents will attend a board meeting if their child or child’s teacher is receiving an award, then leave just as the board begins discussions on an important district issue.
Bond, who chairs the Irving Education Coalition, along with Manny Benavidez who is the vice-chair, believes there is also apathy within Hispanic, African-American, and Asian leadership in Irving.
He believes the ‘white’ man has them fighting each other and referenced the “Willie Lynch Syndrome,” a method used by slave-owners in the 1800s to cause dissention among slaves. If you’d like to read the entire manifesto, visit www.thetalkingdrum.com/wil.html. According to Bond, this ‘syndrome’ is still affecting the community.
“I’ve seen the syndrome at work when Irving has had two African-Americans or two Hispanics running for offices in elections with the infighting that goes on. It makes no sense, and I’m tired of it,” says Bond.
 new single-member districts are a step in the right direction, but not good enough to critics and if not careful, the district is a “racial powder keg that can go off at any moment.”){kind=link}