Eyes Opened: Grassroots activists educate voters in Alabama city, despite losing fight for inclusive district map
One by one, the impassioned residents of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, stood to challenge the majority-white city council.
The residents who spoke represented a multiracial coalition and supported an increase in representation on the city council elected by Black voters for this city with a growing population of color.
The topic of discussion on Feb. 22 was the impending vote on Tuscaloosa鈥檚 new city council map. The council had refused to consider a map proposed by residents that would distribute the Black voting population among four districts, instead of restricting it to the current three.
The residents鈥 map would have given the city鈥檚 growing Black population an opportunity to elect a candidate of choice on a fourth seat on the seven-member council.
But the map under consideration 鈥 the one proposed by the council 鈥 would not meaningfully change Black political representation, even though the Black population has grown over the last 10 years. The city鈥檚 Black residents had endorsed a fairer map, and a strong coalition of advocacy groups including the local NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had worked hard for it. In the end, many frustrated residents saw the council鈥檚 vote as a done deal and believed there was no point in speaking at the meeting.
鈥淭his map doesn鈥檛 reflect the diversity of Tuscaloosa,鈥 the first speaker, Maggie Yancey, said of the city council map. 鈥淭here is no data, no evidence or support for this map.鈥
At the end of the night, after months of debate and discussion, the Tuscaloosa City Council that preserves the majority-white city council. As reported to Congress last year, redistricting has long been used as a tool of diluting the political power of Black communities of color, including in Alabama.
On the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama, where state troopers savagely beat demonstrators who were marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in support of equal voting rights, the fight for voting rights across the Deep South continues.
In Tuscaloosa and other jurisdictions previously required to submit their maps for federal preclearance under Section 5 of the 鈥 legislation that was inspired by Bloody Sunday but was rendered ineffective by the Supreme Court in 2013 鈥 the battle has taken the shape of advocacy against district maps that preserve the power of white elected officials who 鈥 in many cases 鈥 are no longer in the majority of the population.
鈥淭he map that was passed is troubling,鈥 said Caren Short, interim deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center鈥檚 Voting Rights Practice Group. 鈥淲e know that everyone benefits when local representatives listen to the input of the community they represent. It鈥檚 unfortunate that that didn鈥檛 happen here.
鈥淭he redistricting process has been used historically to protect the white power structure and prevent Black voters and other communities of color from gaining any political or social power,鈥 Short said. 鈥淲ithout the protections of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, it is critical that local lawmakers pay attention to the law and pass maps that do not dilute the power of voters of color.鈥
Changing demographics
Tuscaloosa, a city of 99,600 residents, grew about 10% since the 2010 census. An all-out effort by Tuscaloosa鈥檚 grassroots voting groups to educate residents about the redistricting process and why it matters began in earnest after the results of the 2020 census were announced in September 2021. While the state of Alabama lost some of its non-Hispanic white population between 2010 and 2020 鈥 from 3.2 million to about 3.17 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 鈥 the rate in Tuscaloosa slid further, with the white non-Hispanic population decreasing from 52.1% to just under 48%.
During the same decade, the city鈥檚 Black population grew by about 4,000, but its share of the overall population remained steady at just over 42%. At the same time, the Latinx population grew the fastest of any demographic, from 3% in 2010 to nearly 5.5%, reflecting a statewide trend in Alabama鈥檚 growing diversity.
As required by law, the city began its process to draw new council districts to reflect the changing demographics.
Cities and states redraw legislative district lines every 10 years following completion of the decennial census, which tracks population shifts. The federal government requires these districts to have nearly equal populations and not to discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.
But some politicians have used redistricting to advance nefarious objectives, including racial and partisan gerrymandering.
In Tuscaloosa, the city council opted not to create a new map that would reflect the population shift.
鈥淯nfair maps, on the state and local level, have a direct impact on core community issues we should all care about across the political aisle and racial lines,鈥 said Anneshia Hardy, executive director for ,聽a democratic advocacy group that provides content and messaging support for civic organizations. The group campaigned in favor of the Tuscaloosa residents鈥 map.
Last winter, when Tuscaloosa residents proposed a new district map that, among other changes, would unpack District 7鈥檚 Black voters and assign some of them to District 6 to increase their voting power across the city, it was no surprise to activists that the council rejected it.
But Lisa Young, president of the Tuscaloosa chapter of the NAACP, did not expect white residents to come out so strongly in favor of the proposal to unpack District 7.
鈥淚 was very surprised by the level of response we received, not just from those people directly impacted but the number of whites who lent their voice to this effort,鈥 Young said. 鈥淚鈥檝e always seen active white support for say, Big Brothers Big Sisters and domestic abuse [prevention], but that鈥檚 been more whites volunteering for a few hours. This is something new. This had to be a concerted effort and it just grew.鈥
鈥極ne big spectacle鈥
The five city council members who supported the city鈥檚 map 鈥 including the longtime mayor 鈥 repeatedly argued that the residents鈥 map would result in less Black representation rather than more because, they said, a district needs to have at least 65% Black voting age population to elect a council member of the community鈥檚 choice. They claimed that the number of council seats adequately representing the Black community would decrease to two rather than increase to four, as many residents hoped.
Political scientists and legal voting rights experts, however, have said that districts comprising are considered 鈥減acked,鈥 compressing them into a district that as a whole. 鈥淐racking,鈥 on the other hand, dilutes the power of Black voters by spreading them into other districts where they are unable to vote effectively as a bloc.
鈥淒rawing district lines that give Black voters, or other voters of color, an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of choice is what is required,鈥 Short said.
The city鈥檚 proposed map packs about 75% Black voters into District 7 and limits the Black voting-age population in District 6 to 39%. Districts 1 and 2 are also majority-Black districts.
The residents鈥 map reapportioned 20% of District 7鈥檚 Black voters into District 6. The move would have increased the Black voting population in District 6 from 39% to 51%, while decreasing the Black voting majority in District 7 from 75% to 55%.
In the months leading up to the council鈥檚 vote, angry citizens accused the majority of city council members of engineering a concerted effort to 鈥渃onfuse voters,鈥 even an outright 鈥渓ie鈥 intended to misinform.
As the final vote was minutes away, alarmed residents spoke out strongly against council members who supported the city map.
鈥淭his has been one big spectacle from the beginning. 鈥 All we have had is misinformation,鈥 resident Jessy Ohl said.
Emily Altman, a co-founder of the grassroots group Tuscaloosa Action, said her group was among those that examined the city鈥檚 existing voting district lines and demographic changes since the 2010 census.
鈥淲e learned about which parts of the city get a new park and which parts of the city get public housing,鈥 Altman said. 鈥淲e learned about which parts of the city get attention and which do not. We learned about the repeated studies of West Tuscaloosa and how none of them result in real development or investment.聽And we learned how all of this comes back to redistricting, racial gerrymandering and the suppression of Black political power. We also learned that empowering Black residents really angers at least one of you and scares several of you.鈥
Amber Buck, a self-described New York transplant, said she had come to love Tuscaloosa but was upset by its lack of fair representation for communities of color.
鈥淭here are parts of this city that are beautiful, with new sidewalks and streetlights, big, beautiful homes, parks with manicured lawns,鈥 Buck said. 鈥淏ut there are other parts of this city that don鈥檛 get the attention they鈥檙e due. There are neighborhoods that flood every time it rains. I walk through my neighborhood and see vacant lots and condemned homes. There are parts of this city that don鈥檛 get the investment they deserve.鈥
Buck continued: 鈥淲hat does this have to do with redistricting? A more equal Tuscaloosa starts with a fair map where all citizens, and yes, especially Black citizens, get fair and equal representation in our city. Please vote 鈥榥o鈥 on this current [city] map and draw a fairer one.鈥
Mike Altman, co-founder of Tuscaloosa Action along with his wife, Emily, was among the residents to speak. He and his wife had been among the fiercest critics of the council鈥檚 stance and attended several council meetings over the course of several months, armed with maps and data sheets intended to educate council members.
鈥淚 just want to say that I can鈥檛 help but imagine a very different way that this whole redistricting process could have unfolded,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his should have been obvious and easy. This should have been a moment where you all stood up and led this city into the future, a future without a white majority and without white majority power. This is an opportunity to make history, but some of you are too scared to do it.鈥
Altman, reading from prepared remarks, continued: 鈥淭oo scared of losing your seat. Too scared of going against the system already in place. Too scared it will cost you something. Too scared to let go of a white majority. If you are going to pass this map, don鈥檛 do it by scaring Black voters with false statements about going back to two Black councilors. If you are going to pass this map, admit that it is because you are scared of having four Black councilors. At least that is the truth.鈥
As the vote was tallied, Councilor Raevan Howard, representing District 2鈥檚 nearly 60% Black voters, said she was saving two seats for Black council members. 鈥淚鈥檓 voting 鈥榶es鈥 to keep us from going back to a 5-2 [racial] ratio,鈥 she said.
Councilor Lee Busby, representing District 4鈥檚 more than 70% white voters, expressed his 鈥渉ope that people don鈥檛 vote for the color of their skin. We elected President Obama twice because we didn鈥檛 vote the color of their skin.鈥
鈥楩ighting the good fight鈥
Two Black councilors provided the lone support on the governing body for the residents鈥 map. They pleaded with their colleagues for voters to have more time to learn exactly what the council鈥檚 map meant for their political power.
District 1 Councilor Matthew Wilson, a pastor, reminded the audience that the new map would be in effect for the next 10 years and said he 鈥渓istened to a higher power and then listened to the people who have elected me.
鈥淭here is no rush for this map,鈥 Wilson said. 鈥淢y community wants to be informed. My community wants to be educated. I challenge my constituents and those watching tonight. If African American voters, what you see tonight, go back home. Get your children, get your grandchildren, get your great grandchildren, and bring them to the polls, and vote like our ancestors did. Bring your children to see what it means to vote, and we will be able, as a community, to change Tuscaloosa, and have one Tuscaloosa.鈥
And with that, the council adopted its own map.
Despite the vote for the less-inclusive district map, Tuscaloosa activists are not giving up.
鈥淓very day, I find a new organization working in the state on voting rights,鈥 said Kendra Love, media strategist with Alabama Values Progress. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take time, but we鈥檙e going to keep plugging away. I don鈥檛 know how you can say you鈥檙e fighting the good fight if you don鈥檛 take a chance to pass new maps that give fair representation.鈥
Top picture: (Credit: Joshua Lott/Getty Images)
