It is heartbreaking to see that, after all the struggling and fighting for equality and peace, that discriminatory racism still exists 50 years later. I ran across a post by Charles Kuffner called "The At Large Trend". He brings to our attention that not only is discrimination very much alive, but it is circulating in our government. Usually when you think of racism, you automatically assume, Whites and African Americans, the dynamic duo. In this case, it is the Latinos who are receiving this mistreatment. As we all know by now, Texas is changing, and changing fast. Hispanics are rising by the thousands, transforming from minorities, to soon be the majority race.
In a town called Pasadena, TX the Hispanic population is over 43%. This town is being sued for allegedly using discriminatory at-large voting systems, meaning the Hispanic community has no representation. In an at-large voting system, every city resident votes for each member of the governing body and the city does not divide voters into districts. Kuffner states that as the Latino population grows, more and more cities are employing at-large voting to dilute the Latino vote and maintain white control of local governing bodies. Unless the Hispanic population reaches a majority, they end up having very little say so in their communities, in return, keeps the whites in control, and the Latinos out of governing offices. This same tactic was used in the south in African American communities, but now whites face a new threat. The report shows, these lawsuits are spreading nationwide, and cities are being sued for millions of dollars.
Kuffner is clearly speaking to our population as a whole. We ought to remove the hatred out of our hearts. I am in complete agreement with acceptance of change. No matter how many tactics the government throws, the general population is changing everyday, it should change with it, or face many more lawsuits. We cannot claim "One Nation Under God" if we continue to stay divided within our nation.
