The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 1984 Page: 7 of 20
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Davidson publishes work on mi nority vote dilution in the South
Minority Vote Dilution
Edited by Chandler Davidson
$24.95, Howard University Press
Reviewed by Jana Sanchez
The legacy of over one hundred
years of slavery and a racial caste
system has been a profound one
indeed. One hundred years after
the demise of the institution of
slavery, and almost twenty years
after the passage of the Voting
Rights Act of 1964, blacks and
Hispanics in the South and
Southwest still cannot effectively
cast their ballots to receive
proportional representation. The
court cases that attempt to
overturn electoral discrimination
are almost always extremely
expensive in both time and money.
These are few of the conclusions
reached in Minority Vote
SRC night
continued from page I
for trivial matters.
Last fall, for instance, the
Richardson commmons was
closed for six meals by Stebbings
at the request of the Clarks
following a food fight. They
reportedly viewed the food fight as
a personal affront, reflecting
dissatisfaction within Richardson
to the administration of Clark.
For instance, the student said,
two years ago at the Richardson
Night of Innocence, two students
started a popcorn fight. The
student said that this was not
unusual behavior for the event.
However, Clark was greatly
angered and fined the students $25.
What upset people at Richardson
at the time was no so much the size
of the fine but how it was imposed.
The student said that Clark never
consulted the college court about
the matter until several months
after the fines were assessed.
A similar incident took place
last year, said Harvey. At a party, a
person threw a chair off the sixth
floor balcony. The Richarson
court reviewed the member's case
and deemed that a small fine would
be sufficient punishment. Clark
did not feel that the punishment
was harsh enough, however. He
made the student sign a document
similar to the one signed by those
involved in the college night
dispute.
Clark's actions represent an
arbitrary infringement upon the
power of the Richardson college
government, said one student.
"Apparently he doesn't think it is
the job of the court to handle these
types of punishments," he said.
Furthermore, sources in the
SRC government note that Clark
has not consulted the college court
about the present case, either. In
addition, he has avoided
discussing the controversy with
other student leaders.
One student felt that Clark's
actions revealed a disrespect for
the members of Richardson. He
said, "It makes a mockery of self-
government at Rice. Dr. Clark
bypasses the court every time he
wants to do something."
The controversy is not likely to
die a quick death. Said another
Richardson member, "This
incident in particular was unique
in that such a strong action was
taken by Clark over such a trivial
matter. And for that reason 1 think
it's going to be harder for people to
ignore than some of his actions in
the past." n
Dilution, a book edited by
Professor of Sociology Chandler
Davidson.
Davidson has in the past
appeared as an expert witness in
many civil-rights cases concerning
electoral discrimination. He drew
upon that reservoir of expertise to
edit the collection of articles
concerning minority vote dilution,
a major form of electoral
discrimination. Davidson
authored or co-authored three of
the twelve articles in the collection.
The collection of articles in
Davidson's book, which cover the
history, present implementation,
and future of vote dilution, was
written by civil-rights lawyers,
historians and government policy
makers. They combine their
wealth of knowledge about the
subject to produce the only book
to be published about vote
dilution.
The book has received favorable
comments from the press. In the
October 14 issue of The New York
Times, for instance, Wendy
Kaminer said that the book
"provides an education in
fundamental voting rights and the
distribution of political power in
America today."
According to Davidson, vote
dilution works in the South and
Southwest to diminish the voting
strength of blacks and Hispanics.
He explains how such mechanisms
as at-large elections, small
governmental bodies, run-off
requirements, and gerrymandering
work to render blacks and
Hispanics underrepresented in
governmental bodies.
He reviews the research that
conclusively proves the ability of
these mechanisms to exclude
minorities. Surprisingly, some
Texan local governments currently
are still elected with one or more of
these mechanisms in effect.
In Texas, for example, while
blacks compose twelve percent of
the population, they constitute less
than one percent of elected
officials. Hispanics fare better, but
they are also not well represented
in electoral bodies; while
Hispanics make up 21 percent of
the Texan population, only
slightly more than six percent of
elected officials are Hispanic.
Davidson warns oi the danger ol
blaming the victims for their own
plight. He states that these facts are
not the result of apathy, political
ineptitude, or ignorance on the
part of blacks and Hispanics, but
rather the result of attempts by
Southern whites after reconstruc-
tion to "purify the ballot."
Davidson's book not only
reviews the historical facts of vote
dilution. Many of the authors offer
hope and optimism for those who
believe in the necessity of
proportional representation for
minorities, as well as specific
solutions to the problems of unfair
governmental representation,
mainly the effective enforcement
of Sections 2 and 5 of the Voting
Rights Act. This policy. Davidson
claims, the present administration
is not enthusiastically pursuing.
Everyone knew what Jeffrey
should do with his life.
Everyone was wrong.
mssm.
r r.\
,
nhe Q
I
A legend in his own neighborhood.
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The Rice Thresher, December 7, 1984, page 7
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Havlak, Paul. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, December 7, 1984, newspaper, December 7, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245577/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.