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For nearly three decades, the small town of Mansfield was represented in Louisiana’s congressional delegation by white Republicans, even though its population is about 80% Black And has heavy democratic leanings.
That changed last year with the election of U.S. Representative Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat who was able to win after a newly drawn political map created the second Black majority congressional district in the state.
Mansfield Mayor Thomas Jones Jr. said he and others finally feel as if their communities are being represented in the nation’s capital.
“We feel connected, like we have someone who is helping us,” he said.
Fields’ seat, and what Jones describes as the benefits of having him in Washington, may disappear depending on the US Supreme Court The rules hearing in one case will be held on Wednesday.
The district that Fields represents is the result of a hard fight by civil rights groups representing black voters in the state. Leaders of predominantly black communities in the 218-mile-long (350-kilometer-long) district said they feel he finally gives them a voice to represent their needs.
But opponents say the district was unconstitutionally divided along race lines. If the court ultimately rules in the plaintiffs’ favor, the decision could have ramifications far beyond this one district louisianaIt would potentially dismantle the last major pillar of the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act and prevent Black voters from challenging political maps that reduce their influence.
Court decisions prompt state to create new district
louisiana’s new sixth Congress The district, which roughly traces the Red River, runs across the state in a narrow, diagonal path. It extends from the state capital, Baton Rougein southern Louisiana to Shreveport in the northwest corner of the state.
The district comprises part or all of 10 parishes. It connects parts of the state that some argue have very different priorities, geography, economies – even their gumbo dishes.
Fields is aware of criticism about the district’s serpentine shape that helped make it majority Black, but he argues that it is contiguous and said all of the state’s congressional districts are geographically large, representing both urban and rural areas. More importantly, he said, the district “gives people of color the opportunity, not a guarantee, to elect the candidate of their choice.”
He said, “You tell me I have to jump from a certain height, I can work on that. You tell me I have to run fast, I can work on that too.” “But you tell me I have to be fair, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
In 2022, Louisiana’s GOP-dominated Legislature drew congressional boundaries, maintaining one black majority district and five mostly white districts in a state with a nearly one-third black population. A federal judge later struck down the map for violating the Voting Rights Act, and the following year in a major case the Supreme Court found that Alabama must draw its second majority black congressional district.
Rather than force a map to be drawn by a judge, the Republican-controlled Louisiana Legislature and its Republican governor passed the current map, creating the second black-majority district.
Black residents now make up 54% of registered voters in Fields’ district, up from 24% under the previous boundaries.
A Congressman who ‘understands the plight of our people’
Throughout the South, older black residents still remember Jim Crow-era methods of voting such as literacy tests and poll taxes that were designed to disenfranchise them.
In Louisiana, civil rights groups argued that the lack of a second majority-minority congressional district was a modern attempt to reduce black voting strength. For decades, with a brief exception in the 1990s, there was only one majority black district in Louisiana.
“It almost feels like when you only have one black congressman, he’s a congressman for everybody who is African American in the state,” said state Rep. Dennis Marcelle, a Black Democrat in East Baton Rouge Parish.
When a second majority black district was being created, some leaders said it did not matter whether their area was included or not. It was more important that it existed.
Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr. of Baton Rouge, a Black Democrat, said, “I am not married to the current state of the maps. … I am not married to Congressman Fields’ representative either.” “We just knew that the 2nd Congressional District represents a minority population, so the person who fills that seat will represent the values of the Congressional Black Caucus. That’s the important thing.”
Dunn said he had rapport with the Republican who represented him before the district was redrawn and said he was approachable. But he also saw the world politically in a different way, Dunn said.
“We feel positive that we have a representative who understands the plight of our people, the needs of our people and is going to fight for things for our people,” he said.
Providing congress for the district
Community leaders from Fields’ district listed a series of needs: supplying low-income housing, protecting and expanding Medicaid, keeping rural hospitals open, addressing food deserts, and providing funding for community centers and other infrastructure.
Some said the benefits have been obvious in Fields’ short time in office — from helping residents access Social Security benefits to working toward securing federal funding for local projects. Many people mentioned the visibility of the fields in the district.
“Obviously, the main thing I’ve done over the last nine months is connect Congress with the people,” Fields said.
Mansfield Mayor Jones said that in his nearly 20 years of working in local government, he cannot recall a time when a congressman held a town hall meeting in his community. Fields has retained three.
One of the city’s priorities for the city of 4,000 is getting grant money to fix and replace its failing sewage system, which pools in people’s homes and flows onto the streets when it rains.
Jones said he has been seeking funding for five years. While the city has received limited funding that was used for patchwork repairs, he said with Fields’ help it is in line to be approved for a grant next year and he hopes the system’s problems will be resolved.
It was the first time Jones remembered that a member of Congress had reached out to say they might be able to make some appropriations and ask for a list of the city’s priorities.
“I feel like he’s stepping up to make sure someone knows our needs and gives us some help,” Jones said.
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Associated Press writer Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.