'Change the Culture': New redistricting map in Alabama
city is a victory for Black voters, but annexation plan could reverse
historic progress

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Liz Vinson, SPLC Staff Writer | Read the full piece here

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Friend,

Voting rights advocates in the Gulf Coast city of Mobile, Alabama, won
a historic victory last August when the city council adopted a
redistricting map that could give voters the opportunity to elect a
majority-Black council for the first time.

But a proposal by the city's mayor to annex predominantly white
areas west of the city could bring in 26,000 new residents, once again
diluting Black voting strength and undoing the progress made toward a
city council map that fairly reflects the demographics of this
majority-Black city.

"Naturally, adding more white voters and fewer Black voters
would reduce the proportion of Black voters in the city, making it
more difficult for Black voters to elect their candidates of
choice," said Jack Genberg, senior staff attorney for the
Southern Poverty Law Center's Voting Rights Practice Group. The
SPLC's advocacy led to the map that better reflects the
city's diversity.

"The irony, of course, is that white people have left Mobile
over the decades," said Jim Flowers, 67, director of All Saints
Episcopal Church, who has been heavily involved with the redistricting
process. "Regarding redistricting, annexation could hurt the
racial balance that we've already achieved - and the mayor
is hell-bent on annexing West Mobile."

The council could vote next month on whether to allow a special
election

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for the plan in March. If the proposal, which still hasn't been
released publicly, is passed, it would swell the population to 213,000
people, making it the state's second-largest city.

It could also potentially change the course of the city's
elections. The recently adopted redistricting plan creates four
majority-Black districts. Currently, three of the seven council
members are Black.

"Now the water has gotten muddied," Flowers said.
"I'm not against annexation, but I am against annexing our
way out of a majority-Black city. The white city council members
consistently say that it's not about race. But if you're
in the public life in the U.S., it is always about race -
always."

READ MORE

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