
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 15, 1993                   TAG: 9307150138
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MINORITY LEGISLATORS SEEK TO PROTECT DISTRICTS

Black and Hispanic members of Congress, citing a "broad-based attack on civil rights," said Wednesday they will work at the state level to protect their districts from challenges expected in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling.

In a 5-4 decision last month, the court questioned whether political boundaries should be drawn according to race. The justices ordered a lower court to hear an appeal by white voters who argued that the snaking boundary of a majority black North Carolina district "bears an uncomfortable resemblance to political apartheid."

The ruling could invite challenges to several other newly drawn congressional districts that are either majority black or Hispanic.

"We believe this is part of a broad-based attack on civil rights," said Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Md., chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. "Those that say the district looks funny, we believe what they're really saying is the district looks too black, too Latino, too Asian." - Associated Press

by CNB