THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 14, 1996 TAG: 9603140006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Majority-minority voting districts were created to enable Americans to choose responsive public officials. They are not designed to discriminate against candidates on the basis of race.
Most Americans are white. And the white majority has long elected whites - mostly white males. It also gerrymandered voting districts to assure white dominance. But reforms have made that harder to do.
Not surprisingly, where black and Hispanic minorities have come to be in the majority, they tend to elect black and Hispanic candidates to office. But freely choosing representatives of the same race is not the same as demanding them.
Unfortunately, black Norfolk councilmen recently criticized the candidacy of a white man for City Council from predominantly black Superward 7.
Councilmen Paul R. Riddick described white candidacies in majority-black districts as ``insensitive.'' Councilman Joseph N. Green Jr., the Superward 7 representative who is retiring after lengthy, honorable service, believes that his district would be best served by a black person - specifically, Daun S. Hester (see Councilman Green's letter on this page).
Staff writer Alex Marshall reported that Councilman Herbert M. Collins Sr. said he is ``kind of offended'' by Horace T. ``Tommy'' White's bid to become the Superward 7 representative. Yet White has every right to seek office and has credentials to support his bid. He's president of the Norfolk Federation of Civic Leagues.
Mr. Collins was among the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that brought voting by wards. The plaintiffs persuaded the U.S. Justice Department and the federal courts that Norfolk's at-large voting system deprived the black minority of adequate representation.
But it is one thing to seek to give minorities a greater voice in choosing who represents them. It is quite another to insist that only candidates of one race should run. Luckily, it's still a free country.
Norfolk's three black councilmen acknowledge that Tommy White may legally seek the Superward 7 seat. Tommy White can't see why he shouldn't try to persuade voters he's the best man for the job. He has lived for two decades in the area that Superward 7 encompasses.
Race is likely to figure heavily in Superward 7 voters' consideration of their district's six candidates - two of whom are white. But no signs in majority-minority voting districts read ``Only Minority Candidates Need Apply'' - nor should they. Toppling barriers to voting and to running for public office is what America's all about. by CNB