Black population removed in North Charleston’s proposed district map, critics say | News

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NORTH CHARLESTON Community leaders and residents have worried for years that the growth will negatively impact the city’s longstanding African-American communities.

Now, with the unveiling of North Charleston’s draft map of its new city council wards, many believe the plan is yet another attempt to isolate black residents.

“I think they’re trying to take out some of the black representation,” said Councilman Mike Brown, who represents the predominantly black District 1, which covers part of Dorchester Road.

“It’s just another way to push gentrification and deprive us of what we earn,” he added.

Several dozen community leaders and residents attended a Jan. 24 meeting at North Charleston City Hall, where the city presented its draft proposal for its redistricting map. This was the second town hall meeting on the new lines conducted every 10 years to account for population growth.

From 2010 to 2020, the city’s population grew from 97,449 to 114,852.

As the number of African Americans increased in North Charleston, the overall percentage of black people in the city fell from 47% to 40.6% from 2010 to 2020. The city’s white population also dropped by 42%. at 40%.

North Charleston’s Hispanic population has seen a significant increase, representing approximately one-fifth of the city’s population in 2020.

The fastest growing area is Council District 4, which includes the community of Westcott, one of the largest and most popular neighborhoods in the region. The district saw an increase of 6,000 people, bringing the total population to just over 16,000.

The priority for the city is to create population uniformity in each of its 10 municipal districts, as growth over the past decade has not been evenly distributed. City staff also considered natural boundaries and the need to avoid dividing communities into different districts.

But a priority is also to avoid racial gerrymandering, said city attorney Derk Van Raalte.

Map reviewers said the plan did the exact opposite.

Liberty Hill, a predominantly African-American neighborhood founded in 1871 by former black slaves, was once part of the predominantly African-American District 7. This neighborhood, populated by churches and black homeowners, has now been merged into District 8 with Park Circle, a more affluent neighborhood. , White community.

The move ties the black neighborhood into a community that “has no interest,” said the Reverend Nelson Rivers, pastor of Charity Missionary Baptist in Liberty Hill. The map also dilutes the ability of black voters to elect prime candidates, Rivers said.

Placing Liberty Hill in “what now looks like a majority white district” is the “epitome of racial gerrymandering,” said Greg Perry, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party.

Perry, who is also running for a seat on the North Charleston City Council, drew parallels with the coastal 1st Congressional District.

Federal judges found earlier this month that South Carolina lawmakers designated the district, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, in a way that discriminates against black voters. Lawmakers must recreate the district by the end of March, the justices decided, but an appeal from Statehouse Republicans who drew the map is likely.

“I’d rather North Charleston didn’t have to do this,” Perry said.

Rivers and others have expressed support for the NAACP’s draft map, which follows traditional redistricting principles, they argue. The civil rights group’s map maintains Liberty Hill in its existing district, allowing black voters to elect representatives of their choice, Rivers said.

Several other people who spoke expressed similar concerns, pointing to the fact that District 7 is currently represented by an African-American representative, Councilor Sam Hart.

Hart, who has mostly been publicly silent on the issue, said at the meeting that he supports the NAACP card.

“I think the city is going to go back to the drawing board,” he said. “Those involved had ears tonight.”

Mayor Keith Summey, who did not respond at the meeting to criticism of racial gerrymandering, said at the start of the event that the map was not final. He said the purpose of the Jan. 24 rally was for council members to listen to people’s concerns, not to engage in debates with residents about their issues with the map.

For most of the meeting, council members followed the mayor’s lead, with the exception of Councilman Jerome Heyward, who offered to end the meeting midway because he felt the Council members should be allowed to discuss their concerns with residents.

“It’s one of the biggest things I’ve been involved in,” he said. “We should be able to hear (and) hire you.”

The event was North Charleston’s second public meeting in the past year on its new district map.

The city held a meeting at city hall last summer, but the map was not detailed and the meeting was poorly attended.

The League of Women Voters acknowledged that the city had posted maps at four locations in the city a week before the meeting, but still pushed North Charleston to create a map that does not favor the incumbents. The league also asked the city to be more transparent in its process.

“Based on the limited information available, we are concerned that your current process may better meet government principles to ensure voters can choose candidates, not the other way around,” said league co-chair Vicki Westberg.

While racial representation was a major concern, other issues arose in another part of town.

District 3, which currently covers the Deer Park neighborhood and Northwood Estates, has been changed and no longer includes Salamander Road. Neighborhood residents are also concerned that the changed boundaries will limit their ability to have a say in the types of development that occur around neighborhoods.

Community members can view the proposed map online at www.northcharleston.org/government/city-council/redistricting, where residents can also leave comments on the plan.

For more information, residents can contact the City Clerk’s Office at 843-740-2509 or [email protected].

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