THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410290048
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
THERE'S GROWING realization that the U.S. Justice Department's efforts to protect the voting power of Chesapeake's black citizens may well end up having the opposite effect. By forcing voters to choose School Board members from contrived, racially-defined districts, federal authorities run the risk of undermining the very principles it claims to uphold.
Chesapeake is rightly proud of its history of electing diverse and representative leaders to positions of responsibility. Any objective analysis of voting patterns here shows that the race of candidates for public office has been consistently less important than other considerations, such as competence, character and philosophy.
In the most recent election for City Council, for example, voters who chose to cast their ballots for candidates not of their own race had a profound effect on the results. This might not have been possible if the electorate had been segregated by law into those political ghettoes known as wards.
Even if they voted along racial lines, there's no guarantee that predominantly black areas of the city, such as South Norfolk and Crestwood, would be better represented under a ward system than they are now. What is sure, however, is that a ward system would compromise their ability to choose candidates based on criteria other than race.
Balkanizing the city into nine or more wards would force elected officials to work against one another rather than together for common interests.
The people of Chesapeake have worked hard to resist racial polarization, and their success is a matter of record. Interference from federal authorities at this point in our history will only set us back.
KEYWORDS: U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WARD SYSTEM VOTING
CHESAPEAKE SCHOOL BOARD CHESAPEAKE CITY COUNCIL
by CNB