Redistricting must focus on Black representation in state senate

The redistricting process currently underway in Massachusetts requires that we draw upon dramatic lessons from the past.

In 1974, former state Rep. Bill Owens was elected as the first Black to the state senate in the history of Massachusetts. The occasion was the result of a bruising battle led by activists like Owens, Royal Bolling Sr., Elma Lewis, Melnea Cass and the Rev. Michael Haynes of the historic 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury. Due to their persistence, a victory in electoral representation was achieved.

Today, there is no Black in the state senate. This needs to be corrected during the current redistricting cycle.

As things now stand, the Black community in Boston is divided along two state senate districts. The district to which Owens was elected is known as the Second Suffolk, the political home of the Black community. In the parlance of redistricting case law, this community has been cracked, its political and electoral power dislocated. This occurred during the 2000 redistricting process.

The result is that Black voters in the areas of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale and Hyde Park remain underserved. Disproportionate crime, racial disparities around wealth and health morbidity rates have long plagued these neighborhoods. The Black communities are split in terms of representation between state Sens. Sonia Chang Diaz and Nick Collins.

When former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson resigned in 2008, it left the electoral condition of the Black community without direct and strong representation in the state senate.

But there is now an opportunity for remedy.

When the Second Suffolk state senate district was created, it was arranged to trace the geographic spine of the Black community. It specifically ran down Blue Hill Avenue and stretched into the contiguous majority Black wards and precincts. The redistricting theory at the time held that uniting the Black community into a singular district would cause the desired electoral cohesion. That was exactly what it did and the commonwealth benefited.

Now the essential and challenging question before the joint redistricting committee is this: What specific tasks are at hand with regard to electoral justice for the Black community? Led by chairpersons Rep. Mike Moran and Sen. William Brownsberger, the joint committee is poised for success. They must do two things.

First, the redistricting committee must listen carefully and consider the voices of the impacted Black communities in Boston.

President Lincoln once quipped, when speaking about the prospects of a tormented nation, that a divided house can not stand. The same is true for the Black community in Boston regarding redistricting: The divided electoral state senate districts across which the Black community is splayed reduce the civic capacity of these communities. The current senate district map undermines the electoral capacity of the Black community, precluding them to elect the candidate of their choice — a form of disenfranchisement.

Were the current map to stay the same after this redistricting process, it would continue to truncate representation in the senate with regard to constituent needs, ambition and goals of the Black community.

Second, the joint committee must take actions that are based in what’s known as the community of interest statute and case law. The community of interest theory holds that vital communities that are alike ought to be held together. These communities must be valued for their specific political, cultural and geographic orientations. This is especially true for Black voters.

With these two admonishments, the redistricting process can create a new electoral reality in the commonwealth that gives attention to a unique community.

Additionally, the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus has a Herculean role to play in the process. It is led by its chairwoman, state Rep. Chynah Tyler, and Reps. Russell Holmes, Nika Elugardo and Marcos Devers are highly regarded. These representatives are powerful leaders who hold sway in the Black community statewide.

Sen. Brownsberger and Rep. Moran face an opportunity to address racial and electoral inequity in the commonwealth. They should use their insight, their substantive influence and the population data before them to create a better future for Blacks, and by extension, the commonwealth.