Ed Gray, NDG Senior Columnist: The Gerrymandering of America

Straight Talk with Ed Gray

President Barack Obama once said, “We have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

A noble concept indeed, however in political reality, America has not lived up to that ideal. We remain a fragmented coalition of governing districts with narrow political self-interests.

Kelly Hancock, elected to the State Senate of Texas in 2012, representing a diverse district (Senate District 9) encompassing twenty cities and towns in two counties. I am politically active, yet I have never seen my state senator in almost eight years in office. We might as well live in two states instead of the one senatorial district. Keep in mind, I was a thrill to see him on television, as he might have been on a milk carton.

State Senator Hancock is a decent man, and he is not responsible for drawing up the State Senate district. Politicians with self-interests of getting elected, protecting incumbency, and occasionally racial politics have drawn districts that would make Stevie Wonder proud. These districts though legal, as many received court approval, yet they are inherently unfair.
State Senator Hancock’s district extends from the northeast Tarrant County of Westlake to the southwest Dallas county of Westchester. Now that’s a problem. If you were to take a day trip from Westlake to Westchester, meanwhile your best friend drives from Westchester to Waxahachie. Your friend is enjoying coffee in the Waxahachie town square, while you stay stuck in traffic on State Highway 114.

Senator Hancock informed me he had a traveling senate office to serve the needs of his Grand Prairie constituents. This is like going to class online instead of a physical class. It is a novel concept, but I’m old fashion and believe if candidates win elections, their constituents should see them in the community.

We, as citizens, need representation by leaders close to us, and not in gerrymandered districts. Too often these districts are difficult to represent, logistically indifferent, and sometimes racially insensitive. We need to push for an end to malicious gerrymandering thwarting the will of the People. Whether it is the state legislature or the United States Congress, we need redistricting reform now. Otherwise, we will find ourselves stuck in another traffic jam stalling democracy.

I am Ed Gray and this is Straight Talk.

Ed Gray is a presidential scholar at Southern Methodist University. He is the host of The Commish Radio Show airing Saturdays
3-5 p.m. on FBRN.net, can be reached at eegray62@att.net. NDG was awarded NNPA’s 2018 Robert S. Abbott Best Editorial for Gray’s “Confederate Statues: The White Man’s Burden” column.