THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 13, 1994 TAG: 9410130004
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
The Justice Department, while saying it is trying to give Chesapeake's minority voters equal voice with the white majority, may end up achieving just the opposite if it continues to push ward elections.
In rejecting at-large voting for the School Board, the department's Civil Rights Division apparently is convinced that Chesapeake has sufficiently large concentrations of black voters to elect representatives for defined areas but that blacks' voting power would be diluted by at-large citywide voting.
Even if one accepts the flawed notion that black voters automatically support candidate just because they are black, the argument doesn't necessarily hold. Even minority strongholds such as Crestwood and South Norfolk might not have enough black voters to elect black representatives simply with black-for-black votes.
If voluntary integration in Chesapeake makes that so, why does the Justice Department try to force segregation on the voters? It says ``racially polarized'' voting patterns diluted blacks' ability to elect candidates in City Council elections.
A benefit of suburban/rural neighborhoods such as Chesapeake is that neighborhoods are more integrated - unified more by common interests than by racial heritage. By emphasizing race, Justice overlooks community bonds and makes proportional representation more important than competent representation.
The federal agency underestimates voter intelligence. What informed voter is going to waste a vote along racial lines, and why wouldn't a white voter cast his ballot for a minority and thus perhaps dilute ``white representation'' on the School Board or City Council?
In the years since the Voting Rights Act and other laws guaranteeing equal opportunity, electing representatives is increasingly moving beyond race. Virginia voters white and black elected L. Douglas Wilder as lieutenant governor and governor. In Oklahoma, black Republican J.C. Watts looks set to win election in November in an overwhelmingly white district.
Chesapeake has proved its willingness to embrace black leaders, both on the School Board and the City Council - before Justice's intervention.
That seems affirmation enough of the city's willingness to give blacks equal say in the political process. Such equality - not polarizing voters by disregarding their unifying interests - should be the goal of voting rights. Justice should step aside and let Chesapeake voters cast their ballots on issues rather than have them fulfill an unnecessary quota. by CNB