Redistricting Proposal Called Racist

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing Monday night. At the Santa Ana City Council meeting, a Hispanic organization had proposed a redistricting map for the council wards that was racist and segregationist.

Under the guise of fairness, races throughout Santa Ana were being lumped together and “given” voting wards. If I heard correctly, three wards were going to be Hispanic, two Anglo, and one for “all others.”

I don’t live in Santa Ana to be locked into a white voting district. We have a lot to learn from each other in our multicultural city, and I don’t care to be segregated for voting “purity.”

The proposal divided the city into zones of races. The reality is that Latinos live in the north end, Anglos live in the central city, and blacks and Asians live in the south end.

I agree that the Hispanics do not have a power bloc in the city, but there is a way to fix that. Register and vote. It’s an amazing concept, but it works.

For the last several years, residents in the form of neighborhoods (made up of Hispanics, Anglos, Asians and blacks) have worked hard on getting out the vote. That may be why we got listened to by the city.

I can appreciate the desire to have an equitable voting system, but I don’t support racist measures that only hurt the concept of fairness in the American system.

GUY BALL, Santa Ana