Voters in Compton, Calif., Approve Redistricting Measure as City's New Majority Invokes Voting-Rights Protections - The Justice Department filed a complaint earlier this year against a Nebraska county, alleging that election materials weren't provided in Spanish.
From The Wall Street Journal:
When Lillie Dobson moved to Compton, Calif., in 1966, the population was predominantly white. Over the years she watched as white residents moved out and blacks moved in. Now 73 years old and a City Council member, Ms. Dobson is watching another change sweep the city, one with equally profound consequences for the Los Angeles suburb and its government.
A generation ago, African-Americans made up three-quarters of the residents. The latest Census shows two-thirds of Compton's 96,000 residents are Hispanics. That change was the catalyst behind a lawsuit, settlement and election in June that will give Hispanics a major leg up when residents elect the next City Council in 2013.
Amid changing racial and ethnic demographics in Compton and elsewhere, voting-rights laws that were crafted in the 1960s to help African-Americans are now being used once again, but this time by new minority groups.
There are hundreds of challenges and proposals at the local, state and federal level that have been spawned by changes in the way America looks, legal experts say. The Justice Department, for example, filed a complaint earlier this year against a Nebraska county, alleging that election materials weren't provided in Spanish.
According to recent Census data, Hispanics, already the largest minority group in the U.S., are also the fastest-growing demographic. Data released in May showed that between July 2010 and July 2011, whites of European ancestry accounted for less than half of the newborn children, the first time in U.S. history that has happened.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the foundation of many of the current challenges, was created to stop voting discrimination aimed primarily at African-Americans. It was amended in the 1970s to include other minorities.
When Lillie Dobson moved to Compton, Calif., in 1966, the population was predominantly white. Over the years she watched as white residents moved out and blacks moved in. Now 73 years old and a City Council member, Ms. Dobson is watching another change sweep the city, one with equally profound consequences for the Los Angeles suburb and its government.
A generation ago, African-Americans made up three-quarters of the residents. The latest Census shows two-thirds of Compton's 96,000 residents are Hispanics. That change was the catalyst behind a lawsuit, settlement and election in June that will give Hispanics a major leg up when residents elect the next City Council in 2013.
Amid changing racial and ethnic demographics in Compton and elsewhere, voting-rights laws that were crafted in the 1960s to help African-Americans are now being used once again, but this time by new minority groups.
There are hundreds of challenges and proposals at the local, state and federal level that have been spawned by changes in the way America looks, legal experts say. The Justice Department, for example, filed a complaint earlier this year against a Nebraska county, alleging that election materials weren't provided in Spanish.
According to recent Census data, Hispanics, already the largest minority group in the U.S., are also the fastest-growing demographic. Data released in May showed that between July 2010 and July 2011, whites of European ancestry accounted for less than half of the newborn children, the first time in U.S. history that has happened.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, the foundation of many of the current challenges, was created to stop voting discrimination aimed primarily at African-Americans. It was amended in the 1970s to include other minorities.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 9:17 AM
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