SOME AMERICANS WANT TO IGNORE THAT AMERICA IS CHANGING

…The building where once again, 5 conservatives could take away American’s rights.

 

If the High Court doesn’t move, Texas could become a Blue state!

 

There is a seldom discussed case before the conservative US Supreme Court that could make serious changes to future US election results.

 

Today, when it comes time to re-draw a state’s congressional districts, those lines are drawn based on each district’s total population.  This means the total population, including noncitizens and the children of noncitizens are counted.

 

In the latest case of Evenwel v. Abbott, the court recently heard the arguments for altering the long-standing principle of “one person, one vote” by substituting “voting-age citizens only” for “total population” when drawing legislative districts within the states.

 

The conservative group that is bringing the case to the high court is aware of the nation’s changing demographics and this is their way to continue the dominance of the older, conservative, white American population.

 

As an example of where the country is going, ½ of the nation’s under-18 year old population is made up of racial minorities, while 70% of today’s voting-age citizens are white.

 

As was stated in the Washington Post, “The rise of immigrant-bashing presidential candidate Donald Trump as a hero among older white Republican primary voters represents an extreme version of the pushback against a demographically changing country.”

 

What this type of rule change would do to the country is a potential slam at many social programs within the country.  Pew Research polling has shown that the mostly white, older population is far less accepting of the immigrant minorities and government support for social programs.

 

This new redistricting program would widen the current gap between the older white voters and the growing number of minority families.  Removing children as well as adult noncitizens from the redistricting equation will add to the number of rural, whiter, outer suburban districts.  This would allow an even wider gap between the voting constituencies of the district’s elected representatives and their total population.  And today, 23% of the group that would be left out is below the voting age.

 

As suspected, this latest case was brought on from the state of Texas, which today is a totally “Red” state.  But based on the current growth rate of the state’s minority families, Texas could change to a “Purple” state, and then to a “Blue” state.  If this change in district drawing rules doesn’t change, in ten or so years, this could be a state run by Democrats.

 

No wonder the conservatives went looking for a new decision from the current conservative US Supreme Court.

 

Between 2000 and 2014, Texas led the nation in increasing their number of children under 18 years old.   In addition, racial minorities now make up 67% of Texas’ children, compared with its 54% white-citizen voting-age population. Because these children are concentrated in certain parts of the state, a redistricting plan based on adult-only citizens would be against the interests of these minority children and their parents.

 

And this is not just an issue for Texas.

 

Texas is only one of 25 states that registered gains in their minority child populations since 2000. These fast-growing states are the total opposite of the 25 states that sustained losses in their numbers of under-age children.  These states are slower growing and have older and whiter populations.

 

The group of fast growing states represents the emerging training ground for tomorrow’s labor force, where state initiatives to benefit young children, and especially Hispanics, blacks and other minorities, are crucially needed. Yet these are the very states that would be affected most if adult citizens were the basis of redistricting.

 

Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Arizona come after Texas among the states recording the largest gains in their under-age minority populations.

 

What these states also have in common is a need for greater resources to advance the welfare of their children. A recent assessment of child well-being compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that takes into account multiple measures of education, health, economic and community conditions, ranks Texas 41st, with Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona also ranking in the bottom third of the 50 states.

 

I have been writing about this for years, but some people just don’t want to face the facts.

 

The nation is undergoing a major demographic transformation wherein minority growth is driving all of the population growth, especially among the younger population.

 

I’m sorry to have to tell those that are trying to turn back the clock, but this is more than just an interesting statistic. It reflects the fact that the next generation of workers, community leaders and voters must be prepared to contribute to a society and an economy that will be different from today’s voting-age citizens.

 

If there was ever a time when the needs and interests of the nation’s next generation should be part of the discussion and decision-making process, this is it.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2015