LESSON OF THE MONTH
Color Conscious or Color-blind:
Race and Political Representation

Nisan Chavkin
©1995 Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

INTRODUCTION

This exercise explores the role of race in political representation. Through facilitated discussion focused on a series of quotations, students will discuss multiple perspectives, share alternative views, and identify points of agreement and disagreement on this profoundly divisive issue.

To become responsible citizens in an ideologically diverse society, students need to know how to discuss and debate controversial issues. Law-related education often asks students to identify reasons for supporting different sides of controversial issues and to construct arguments that justify their views. Yet because ideas, options, and even vocabulary are often associated with one side of an issue, students have few opportunities for a thoughtful exchange of ideas. This lesson is an example of how to use reflection in law-related education.



OBJECTIVES
After completing this lesson, students will be able to
Time Needed: 1-2 class periods

Materials Needed: Student Handouts 1 and 2


PROCEDURES
  1. Explain to students the purposes of the exercise: to draw out multiple perspectives on the texts, to support all interpretations by textual evidence and clear reasoning, to explore alternative views, to think about substantive agreement and disagreement, and to gain new insights.
  2. Distribute copies of "Enforcement of Voting Rights" (Student Handout 1) and "Discussion Texts" (Student Handout 2). Give students a few minutes to read each of the texts and the "Discussion Guidelines."
  3. Begin discussion with some opening questions, such as these:
  4. Help students analyze the quotations in Handout 2. Encourage them to identify the opinion expressed in each quotation and the information used to support the opinion. Have them examine ways in which the opinions are alike and different.
  5. Conclude by identifying the authors of all the quotations in Handout 2 (see box below). Ask students whether their responses might have been different had they known this information, and have them reflect on why this knowledge sometimes changes opinions.

Discussion Text Sources
  1. Newt Gingrich, To Renew America , Chapter 13, "Individual Versus Group Rights," New York: Harper Collins, 1995
  2. Justice Stevens, Shaw v. Reno , 125 L. Ed. 2d 511, 113 S. Ct. 2816 (1993)
  3. Justice O'Connor, Shaw v. Reno , 125 L. Ed. 2d 511, 113 S. Ct. 2816 (1993)
  4. Clarence Page, "Supreme Court Adds Confusion to Racial Redistricting" (editorial), Chicago Tribune , December 10, 1995.




Student Handout 1 "Enforcement of Voting Rights"
United States Code (1994)
42 U.S.C. 1973 (a)
"No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision in a manner which results in a denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color ... as provided in subsection (b) of this section."

42 US.C. 1973 (b)
"A violation of subsection (a) of this section is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that the political processes leading to nomination or election in the State or political subdivision are not equally open to participation by members of a class of citizens protected by subsection (a) of this section in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice. The extent to which members of a protected class have been elected to office in the State or political subdivision is one circumstance which may be considered: Provided , That nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion of the population."

42 U.S.C. 1973 (c)
"[W]henever a State or political subdivision with respect to which the prohibitions set forth in section 1973(a) of this title are ... in effect shall enact or seek to administer any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure with respect to voting different from that in force or effect on November 1, 1964 ... [or November 1, 1968, or November 1, 1972, as the case may be] ..., such state or subdivision may institute an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for a declamatory judgment that such qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure does not have the purpose and will not have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color...."

Emphases added .




DISCUSSION GUIDELINES
  1. Refer to the text when needed during the discussion. The conversation is not a test of memory. You are aiming at understanding ideas, values, and issues.
  2. Discuss ideas rather than each other's opinions.
  3. It's OK to "pass" when asked to contribute.
  4. Don't stay confused; ask for clarification.
  5. Stick to the point; make notes about ideas you want to come back to.
  6. Speak up so that all can hear you.
  7. Listen carefully.
  8. Talk to each other, not just to the leader. Everyone is responsible for the discussion.







Student Handout 2 Discussion Texts
  1. "One of the great debates of the near future will be individual versus group rights. It is a debate that must end decisively in favor of the individual.... The very concept of group rights contradicts the nature of America. America is about the future, about 'the pursuit of happiness,' while group rights are about the past. America asks who you want to be. Group rights ask who your grandparents were."

  2. "If it is permissible to draw boundaries to provide adequate representation for rural voters, for union members, for Hasidic Jews, for Polish Americans, or for Republicans, it necessarily follows that it is permissible to do the same thing for members of the very minority group whose history in the United States gave birth to the Equal Protection Clause. A contrary conclusion could only be described as perverse."

  3. "Put differently, we believe that reapportionment is one area in which appearances do matter. A reapportionment plan that includes in one district individuals who belong to the same race, but who are otherwise widely separated by geographical and political boundaries, and who may have little in common with one another but the color of their skin, bears an uncomfortable resemblance to political apartheid. It reinforces the perception that members of the same racial group—regardless of their age, education, economic status, or the community in which they live—think alike, share the same political interests, and will prefer the same candidates at the polls.... By perpetuating such notions, a racial gerrymander may exacerbate the very patterns of racial bloc voting that majority-minority districting is sometimes said to counteract.... This is altogether antithetical to our system of representative democracy."

  4. "When Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) ... was a U.S. representative, his district stretched all the way up to Dallas and all the way down to Houston, conveniently offering Gramm two major media markets in which to publicize himself.... Some of today's deep thinkers argue that any form of ethnic gerrymandering is wrong. Even if that were true (although it seems to have worked well up until now) I wonder suspiciously why that challenge is being heard now that finally, after years of hard-won victories, it is beginning to benefit people of color? Could it be R-A-C-I-S-M?"







©1995 Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago
We grant permission to reproduce this lesson for distribution to students, other school site personnel and district administrators. Any other reproduction or distribution requires the approval of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

Last updated: January 8, 2004

Please forward all inquiries regarding the website to webmaster@crfc.org , or use the contact form . This website is provided courtesy of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago. Copyright 1998-2002.