Call the new Georgia congressional map what it is: a sledgehammer against democracy in the service of white supremacy

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Larry Johnson, the editor and publisher of the Cobb County Courier seated in an office chair in front of a small table with a laptop in article about Cobb County Courier Meet the Editor

Posted By: Larry Felton Johnson November 22, 2021

This is going to be short because it’s not a complicated matter.

Redistricting always results in the party drawing the maps attempting to maximize their seats, but the stark racist gerrymandering of the proposed Georgia Congressional map is a flagrant move to dilute Black and other nonwhite voting strength at a time when the statewide population is near a 50/50 white/nonwhite balance.

Like the various vote suppression laws, it’s a sledgehammer wielded against democracy and it’s a sledgehammer clearly and deliberately in the service of white supremacy.

We shouldn’t let it be clouded by the polite language of partisan maneuvering.

The new map will change the balance of U.S. Representatives overlapping into Cobb County from two Black representatives (Lucy McBath and David Scott) to a probable three out of four white representatives, including the astounding move to put Austell and Powder Springs into Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 14th District.

Anyone following my opinion pieces knows that I don’t like euphemisms for clearly racist actions.

This isn’t routine “partisan gerrymandering.” So don’t expect me to put this in terms of GOP vs. Democrats, because that’s a secondary concern, both in my view and in the behind-the-scenes view of the policy wonks analyzing the racial demographics of the districts and developing a map to ensure the dominance of white voting power.

It’s a move to dilute the voting strength of the now nearly nonwhite majority in the state. With a roughly 50-50 political balance in the state, this is an action clearly designed to enforce white supremacy.

And let’s call it that.

It’s an attack on democracy.

It’s a clearly racist attempt to take the voices away from nonwhites in the political process.

It does have the effect of diminishing the influence of the Democratic Party, but that isn’t the overarching goal, any more than the Cobb school board’s racist rule effectively requiring a white sponsor for a member to get an item on the agenda was about partisan maneuvering.

Call it what it is.

Call it racism and white supremacy.

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