The Gantt Report
By Lucius Gantt
In 2022, most African Americans seeking election to statewide and federal offices will be running…..for their political lives!
If you don’t know, the reapportionment process in every state has already begun. The journalists that you love don’t care about reapportionment and they don’t think you should care about it until the very last minute when you can’t do anything about it.
Depending on your personal and/or your political goals, reapportionment can be great or it can be terrible for democracy and political progress.
In states where the state legislature is under Re-publican control and in the states where Republicans are trying to gain control, Black elected officials are the Re-publican’s best friends.
Only during the reapportionment process will you see Black and Republican legislators holding hands, singing kumbaya and teaming up to beat back white Democrats.
I know you’ve been led to believe that white Democrats are your supporters, your benefactors, your protectors and your political angels but during reapportionment times, every elected official goes for themselves.
Let me explain. No one will tell you, but The Gantt Report that Black and Republican state legislators are having conversations right now.
The Democrats will tell Black Americans that the Republican reapportionment plan is evil, satanic, devilish, discriminatory and a gerrymandered plan designed to limit democracy and suppress Black political power.
The Republicans will tell Black Democrats that, “White Democrats only want to use Black legislative votes to increase numbers of white elected Democrats.”
“Our state needs more Black Senators and Representatives”, the Republicans contend, “and our plan will make more seats available to Black candidates!”
So, what will Black legislators do? Will they vote for legislative districts that include Black and white voters or will they vote for districts that have “snake-like” compositions that carve up communities to put all predominately Black precincts in districts that maybe only a Black candidate can win?
According to actor Wesley Snipes, “Always bet on Black!”
All elected officials want to run in districts that they can win forever, or until they run in term limited districts and states. The legislators that represent you sometimes vote for themselves instead of voting for you.
I know you don’t like for me to write like this but don’t take my word for what you’ve read. Look at how your state representatives have voted on past reapportionment proposals. See how many Black Democrats have voted in favor of Republican apportionment and redistricting plans in the past.
Now let me tell you about the obvious. It’s no secret that the base of the Democratic Party is their strong support from Black voters.
In State and Congressional districts where white voters voted for white candidates, white Democrats couldn’t win a rat race!
Good Black candidates can win in districts with 20, 30 or 40% of Black voters. They don’t need 80 or 90% Black voter districts.
The Republicans bamboozle Black voters and Black candidates to get Black voters out of mixed voter districts so super conservative whites can beat so-called moderate and liberal white candidates.
The political devils are tricky. They make you think you are supporting yourself and your community by making it possible to elect more Blacks when you’re really supporting reapportionment plans that will result in the elections of more klansmen, nationalists and supremacists!
It’s hard out here for pimps and politicians. Reapportionment legislation is the greatest form of government magic.
It can make your political enemies appear to be friends and your so-called political comrades look like political haters!
Finally, watch and listen to your community organizations and community leaders. They will take sides in reapportionment debates. Will SCLC, the NAACP, Black churches and others do and say what’s best for you or will they rubber stamp what their political bosses and campaign contributors tell them to embrace
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