Excerpts from Senate Report RE: Racial Polarization

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T rrhether policicifaurlrrigfif, have @
overt or subtli racial appeitsi

r mcrolithiq rnd
from rhite gsl6psrrr
-rfiil-frarerrrir *s!.but misees the point. rt is-tnre rith rcspect
f,**f:1,:{:P*and.intheeeommu;ii,"-ii*,ir1ii-*li"eea?,ifr;diftcult for pteintifis to sho. ihicir,iiii.i Ie;ii;i;;.Hil"tisiifeir rccess ti the potiticd proce.s i;;f";ii,;-;"tlq rprr-fril r.ccgss ti, t-t 

" 
potiiiof p6;;;il";iil; ff;il il;t,ntortunitclv. however. therp gtill .E 6h-flnfortrrnehly,rrntortunitcly. howev.er, therr_ still arB some communities in ourNe_tion wherc ricial pqliticido aoiiiiriii, tii'ercrramr h'&cahe el-ectoral process.fn tho contcrt of su6 pd other fect6rs. a padieu-ler election method "iffi ers equal opportunity topartieioah meenin_gfully in electiong

p. 3 q (7'?-rz) .fo. suggest thst.it is-the rwults tas( crrcfully epplied by ttre courtq
yhjqh rs responsible lor.thoge instangas of iitaiiive raiirl politicq
i1 hke ssyuE thd ic ig the doctor,s ththerm@f,r: lu(o sayhg
lever.
I m-----r^-.The results teal,, mileo no aunmptiotu.otu woy or ttu otlwr rrtrolutlhs
role of raciel political considerations in e pafticular
prornrrt's- asserc tfult Chsy rre
rn prrt, becsuso of the
chrllenged eloction prcvc iL

Proponents of the:.inten_t studrrd; horever, do pniune tlut such
racial politics no longer affect minority votem rn .dmcrica. This prc-
iumptrotr lg-uones a rcgrettable reality esteblished by overwhelmlincby overwhelmingsum-ptron lgu.orys a rcgrettable reality
evidinco et the Sonat€ aid House heoriirg&

4l rl;lr-, ga.{r- .,,,4A. -+14 "ou lL ati

of the stoCe or

tegl de*amce
1 Thc

not

? Lq CP.uaJ

-L..f:-t 4D

/-)fn"
. Politicel

p. 33 Lp.zrrl iff{ti,$"*::1ffi iir:xg*s}'"lf ,rr"ii.jiiHi



PP rtD-rt L,p "t'$t'l

Ka"l ?olanza,h't* A

RegovI o{ lhe 5 ubcat^,nr;H€e n t1* Covrsh'loh'tp

ll[6Tn the dircction of incrersingly overt policies of mcc.co.nseiour'

;;-Thi";;id;;"i';.i;"p e;"dt"*- from ttre constitutionrl
ffito"m"nt ;athG Uitt"-rir'""-ilie Reonstruction an-d sinea thr
;i"J;'i'il;;;'bitfr ";[iii-.rii*-lltt"*ti#?ffi i'*?f f##gft tSfl ifl '"":il*Ji$ffi "fJili$o,r.r;,-therawore!'ffia i-b;; ;:arrrait e-irrat;o,r"tbG Civil RiShts Act of 100{'

-frTf"*Slo,s,gT'*S1$Silt"thevotingRightsAit-1+d
.lt"n ouito litclv into othei civil rights *rtutc !s t Fcsult- tIc
iffiili'it'ffi -itt iit*a" -."*titly into d""Sqos relating.to
I[fr'Jri"i^.ii*"r*ili;ffi"R*iJ' s"ry'"qderl]' and'ciel
blc votidl will bec'ome normal oocurrlncls' gi-ven- legel and ooruluEu'

tionrt reco:mition rnd sanction by the Votu-rg 4tg.ttF Ac!:Jlc,r€8sl1g'

"etler 
thafr decreasing, focug upon noe rnd.ethnicity. wru take- plsco

ig.tLe coursc of otheriise mutineroting and electorrt geprslotrs-

In rddition to the serious questiors inherent in adopting any legisla-
tion which recognizes intcnist groups as a primary'unil of 

'poiiticel

, !.Drt? B..rl!3.. Jeauurry n,lg82- Wrttcr Berlr, BaldGat gcbottr, AEG?lerE EBtGr-
Drl!. l.rtltuta.
e.:;*o.t" E.rr{Dtr, Jeauer, 28. leS2. Edrrt{ Erl.r. Profcrror, NrtloDrl EoErnltl.r

[page l{E]
rcpresentrtion, it must be taken into account that the pcrticuler group
immediately involved is deffned solely on raeial grounds. The zubeom-
mittne belidves speeial caution is apiropriete ihen the enactment of
any mce-based classiffcation is eontemplated and rigorous analysis of
poiential undesirable social consequen'ces must be u"ndertsken.'

The first problem encountered is simply one of definition. Lcgislation
which tendi to estsblish representati6n-based on racial groulp neces-

Fnly po6€s th6 quescron ot how Persotui shall be ssilgned to or erclucled
from thet group for political puiposes. Reccnt history in this and other
lations- suggtds that the rcsolutioq of such a question ean be demean-nations suggds thaf the rpso-lutibn of such a questi6n ean be demean-
ing- and ultimately dehumanizingtor thoqg involved. All too often theing and ultimately dehumanizi
task of racirl classification in

{he second problem involves doubtful assum;rtiorrs which are neces-

serv to sunport a race-based system of rcpreSentation..[-he aeceptance

;?i;i;i'*",rp as o politieil unit implies for one thing, that race

is the nreddininint detirminont of political preferenca Yet" there ts
;ffi#;lbt;;;ie;iliil ulact poiiticat figures can win substantial
;;;;?;; *hite voters, and. Similarlv. ihat white eandidates can

l,i'r'tft" ,.i.. 
"t-L-i""t< 

citizbns. Attornev Genernl Smith described the

;;d;;.. ii;;?""*d to the implicotiori that black-s will onJY vote fot
black candidates and nhites only for white eandidstes end solcl l

That. of course, is not tme. One of the lxst exam-ples of thot
is the City of Ircs Angeles. where a black maYor of course was

elected rith manY white vote's-tc'

S im il orl y. o race' besed- sv*em u1r PI i,es, tht !l* d-f i:',::.', I-t' gTi
,n:ililT#-'i"iiifi i"Tiri'i"i"""'rill:urr,?:*l=f-'otion'Pro-
?I"il' "nl'it';ffi i;;A ;i,ts assumption in his testimonv :

Iouestionrhethergblackcanbeflirlyrepresented-only
uu^"'tr""If,"";ffih;;i,,i-O"'Li " 

pet"' Rodino-or that a

;;it"1;;h;'tt.#;;G;6a fiiiv bv s white and not' for

@eJd

w.l,tl-'ts Lq 3wJ c. EAcHr. rrrr.rffioxs

gerily the question of how persons shall be assigned to or ercluded

task of racirl classification in and of itself has resulted in soeial tur-
moil.-At a minimum, the issue of classificotion would heighten raee-
consciousn$s and eontribute to raee-polarization. As Pmfessor \:an
Aletyne put it, the
pel the
iionEP

oe Hl+lP 3zB
lr 50 323



fn other words.
eble and rpason to

Racr'aL ?ol*;zPJ'te-t 5

factor in of elected

minorities wil! b€ best served by a proportional systen:

It mav onlv allow the racial minoritv to become isolated.
lhe inte"rests-of minorities are best servei when nemow racisl
issues arc subeumed within e larger politicel contprt wherc

321

rece does not define political interests. The overrhelminc
pgpee of the Voting Rights Act was to cnats these conl
lrtlons, end proba.bly no finer erample of legislotion servinc
the common intere$ can be found. But transformins the VotI
ing Rights Act into.?- vehicle of propo*ional-;pnd.ftrri6;
based upon race will undermin-e the mound oI the common
good u-pon which it rests. Such e tran-sformation will rc fEr
lowards prccluding the pmibility of ever crco,tinc a coirmon
rntorest or oommon gmund that-transceDds rscia:l class con-
siderstions.rc

. Professor McManus recolled an instanco where politieallv articu-
Iate blacks argued stmrgly againd p-po*io"i *i;;ili;;'--

_ One fection of blacks, led by eeverel stoto r"prcsntriivs.
the three black Houstori City' Coun"it .".U"ri, 

"-ilr"d- 
i;;

gpreading 
. 
infl uence among thrce comm issior*"r' ;a[;" ih";

ha,vlng a single blaek,figurchead, commissioner. Stete Reor.e-
sentrtive Crajg Tlashington, spokesperson for the cr6rp.porn@d out that thrce votes are needed to aeeomplisii anj,-thing substa.ntive. ..As long as we have 25 percent ,it ifr" ,oL
It Eny one drstrrct.we arc going to be the-balanee of Dower.!'or that neason it is bettcr for the black communitv til havevotlng impact on three eommissionem tfisn to be i;".;il;
get.her in- one precinct and eleet a black to sit rt th; tsbL
and watch the papers fly up and dorrn,,'he said. IVashington

a-rgued that packing 
"u 

,ffffi:iliin one distriet was,hor in
the best long:tcnn interests of the community.n rer

The City Attorney for Rome, Georgia, Mr. Brinson similarty ob-
*rved:

While the proposed amendment to seetion 2 mav be rrcr-
ceived as an effort to achieve prcportional rcprdsentaiion
.eimed.at aid-ing a group's participar'ion in the pdliticai ;.*:
oases, ln reality it may very well frustrate th-e cnouot oo_
tsutially successful efibrts at coalition buildins aZross'racial
lines. The rcquirtment of a quota of recial pi-litical success
woull tend strongly to stigmitize minorities'. departmental-
ue the electorate, reinforce any argueble bloc ioting syn-qnome, rnd -prevent mlnority memberc from erereisins in-
f,uence-on the politieal system beyond the bounds of lheir
quota.r{

.. t third prob-lgm relates to the perpetuation of segregated resirlen-trat petterns. sinee our electoral system is establiiheci rithin ceo-
Sraphlc.parameters, the prexription of race-based proportional iep-

ffil,H:t il flirlY,ffi i:H."" ffJf^ I.'#:: f .#ffi
32i-

ffi on rns-iT,mdEFi.sttrem Fiii6nane-tst46
polilical'iirflu!1c9 o.f ririnorities i.s open to considerable debete. l*fg";
ior Erler testified that it is not alwiys clesr thot the interests of racial



Racid. ?olaaz;.:h rw Ll

based politicel. gro-up. A -political p-remium would be put on segrc-
geted..neighborhoods. Pmfessor Berns used the term ..gheitoization" to
$*lU" this process. "It I" are going to ghetto-ize, ihi.h in a sense
rs what wo are dolng, with respect to some groups. whv not do it forrll gmupsl" t., Professor Mclfanus emrrh*asized in her testimonv
that administretive practices in the conteit of seetion 5 seemed to en-
coursgo such segregation :

, A prcmium is put on identifving roeiallv homoceneous nrr-
,-.,/%rncts end using thet ae the test. arid it seerirs to md the bott'om-" line infercnee ii that recial polarization. or havinp peonle in

racially-segregatcd prccinct3, is the orrtimal soluiidn dr the
\ iflgst. shich TAnd vera' har.l r^."4!f,;.+.+itiz.E-ll!-

3. THE RESI'LTE ST,INDAND U,'OUU) ROGcrS ATTEXTIOX ON U HT.TIIER A.\-
ET,ECTTOX S]'STElt W.rS rArR, AliD All',\)'rRolt nlil' rxQuRl' I]iTo RACIST
IfmTrEs

I'he Report suggests that the Results Standard would exacertratc
racial tenSion in local politics. On the eotrtrar-1'. it is tfie "intent test"
wlriclr. by defnition riould require the courts to determine whether'
a public official or ofticial goverting bodv had ar'ted o:i-t of racist nto-
[iias. Lorrg trials u'orrld focu-. on that divisile inquir-v. Bv contrast,
the "results test" rvorrld avoirl that llroblem by focusing on whether
minorities arc unfuirl-r'escluded frcnr equal access to the process under
tho particulrrr s_l'stem in questiou.

'l'he heart of the issFrYshnrpl-v focused by one crucial paragraph
in the Subtpmmit.tee Report. In section \:I (e). the IleJnrt eluims that
the ttresults te$'&ssumes that t'race is the prc<lonrirtaltt tleternriltattt. of
political preference." The Report notes tltat in sorl)e eases rucitl bloc
iotine bi the maioritv is not monolithic and minorit'r' eandidates re'
ceive 

-su6stantial iupport fronr rvhite votet's. IIavor tolrr Bradley of
Los Angeles being'an obr-ious example cited bi' Attorney Genlral
Smitlu

That is precisel]' the poinl In most conrntunities. that is ttue, and
in such corirmunities it nould be virtrrallf impossible for plaintifrs to
shoq'they s'ere effectir-ely escluded froni a fair arcess to thc political
proce-ss ,"nd." the results hst. Unfortunntell'. there still are soitre eom-
inunities in our nation whert racial politi"i do dorninate the electoral
procesr-aC Ieast wit.h respect to tlte nbilitl' of the nrinoritv voters to
6sereise meaningful influince on the seleciion of candidat-es of their

Senalor kCo^ci)i ani Se-na-Iov Leo

(Put *s Ye*u')o
;;;;rni{'te€ Kepo*)

P,8 
3

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