Our Community, Our Lines — Growing Asian American Population Should Play A Role in Georgia’s Redistricting Process
By: Hiba Rizvi
According to new federal census data, the nation’s demography has drastically changed this past decade, and Georgia is more diverse now than ever before. Georgia’s Black population increased by 13 percent, the Latinx population increased by 34 percent, and the Asian population increased by a whopping 53 percent. With a diverse state comes the potential to continue to reshape and reimagine our state’s political landscape. An important part of Georgia’s political landscape is the process of redistricting — the drawing of electoral district boundaries which will determine control of the state and federal government and policy for the next 10 years. Last week, Georgia legislators approved redistricting guidelines that are nearly identical to those passed 10 years ago despite calls from the public for greater transparency. Seeing the growing numbers of Asian Americans in Georgia, I urge our communities to use our growing influence to fight for a fair redistricting process and a Georgia that will support us for generations to come.
The power of the Asian American community cannot be underestimated. Concerns around health care, education, and jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic gave the Asian American community a sense of needing to use their votes to make sure their voices and needs were heard. It was Asian American first-time voters that helped swing Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, an area that has historically voted Republican, from red to blue. According to research released by the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund, 2 of 5 Asian Americans in the district were first-time voters. The research revealed that if Asian Americans hadn’t voted at all, Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07) would have lost by 53 percent to 48 percent, making them critical to her win.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years following the census. Boundary lines of districts get adjusted for equal population counts in each district. Unfortunately, there is not an equal amount of control over the redistricting process, decisions end up leaning towards the majority party, which will most likely lead to gerrymandering for their political gains. This means that elected officials can manipulate the maps to have their districts be filled with residents that will vote for them. For example, a large portion of the city of Lawrenceville was one State House district, District 104. After the 2010 census, with an increase of minority residents, elected officials broke up that portion of Lawrenceville into six State House districts, which effectively diluted the minority vote.
The Asian American population has seen growth in places like Gwinnett, with a 2.69% increase, Cobb, 1.13%, DeKalb, 1.47%, Fulton, 1.99%, and the highest spike in Forsyth County, with an 11.76% increase. 2020 census data shows that our influence can only continue to grow as we build off the momentum of the 2020 election and continue to organize and show up for our communities. With redistricting occurring this fall, there is so much at stake for us all.
We cannot let our historic power-building efforts be lost by seeing that power split between district lines. We have the right to see proposed maps and be given sufficient time to provide input before the maps are written into law. We can elect legislators who represent us and our values, and this can only happen if our district lines are drawn based on community input. Our communities are built around the places where we live, work, pray, shop, go to school and hold social functions. These are integral pieces of our daily lives that must be considered when determining funding and state representation. We must ensure that these districts provide an equitable base and do not break the collective advocacy power of communities of color. We must focus on community needs rather than political gain. This is necessary for our communities to thrive.
I ask that you join me and the Asian American Advocacy Fund in our efforts to transition from redistricting to community districting by providing a fair and transparent process that includes communities of interest. Join us to let elected officials know that this is Our Community, Our Lines. Visit our campaign page at www.asianamericanadvocacyfund.org/ocol to learn more about this redistricting process and how you can be directly involved.
