Drawn Out of the Game
Some voters and scholars say redistricting recalls the specter of disenfranchisement.
By Tracie Powell
The way today’s legislators draw political boundary lines reminds Deralyn Davis of the kinds of obstacles that kept Blacks from voting back when her grandmother had to pay $1.75 for the privilege.
The Fort Worth native is a tough, no-nonsense 71-year-old grandmother who stared down bigots and ignored threats while traveling throughout the South to register voters during the late 1960s. But when politicians recently redrew political boundary lines in her state, Davis says they ended any chance she and other minorities had of electing candidates of their choice.
Now she’s afraid her past struggles mean nothing.
“This is the backdoor way to disenfranchise minorities all over again,” Davis says. “It’s the modern day poll tax.”
