
          'Fair Representation is Essential to Democracy'
          By Wheeler, RaymondRaymond Wheeler
          Vol. 4, No. 2, 1982, p. 10
          
          I am a physician, a native of North Carolina, practicing in
Charlotte. I speak today as a citizen of the state interested in fair
and open government and equal opportunity for all people in the
state. I speak also as a member of the Southern Regional Council, a
group of Southerners both black and white which, for nearly 40 years,
has pursued similar goals for all of the Southern region. The Council
has done important research into patterns of citizen participation in
the governing of North Carolina.
          Since the turn of the century, when it was one of three Southern
states that refused to hold a constitutional convention to
disenfranchise blacks, North Carolina has maintained a separate
identity in the Southern history of race relations and an almost
singular reputation for fair dealings with its black citizens. We have
a reputation for moderation and we deserve full credit for the
accomplishment of self-restraint during the long years of turmoil and
violence that marked the times before and during the Civil Rights
Movement and during the painful period of adjustment to
desegregation.
          This reminds me of a statement made several years ago by John
Seigenthaler, editor and publisher of the Nashville
Tennessean at a meeting on Southern politics. "For
decades," he said, "Southerners of good will have pleaded for
moderation. And, finally, it has arrived. Now that we have got it, God
save us from it." While allowing for a little Southern hyperbole, the
sentiment is appropriate to the paradox of North Carolina's moderation
in race relations while we have been most effective in belittling the
voting strength of a sizable black population.
          It is certainly no surprise that the Justice Department has
disapproved the plans of North Carolina for redrawing both
congressional and legislative districts. All three plans have
contained the same obvious flaw and they dilute the voting strength of
North Carolina's black residents by assuring them minority status in
almost every district.
          According to the 1980 census, of the 15 states with the highest
percentage of black population, North Carolina has the smallest
percentage of blacks in the legislature. Thirteen of those states
elected at least one house of their legislatures entirely from single
member districts. Twenty-two percent of all North Carolinians are
black. The membership of this general assembly is 2.3 percent
black!
          North Carolina has the lowest percentage of black legislators of
the seven states with black populations of 20 percent or greater. The
national average per state is 12 percent black population and 4.2
percent black legislators.
          Among the Southern states covered by the Voting Rights Act, North
Carolina is second from the bottom in the percentage of all black
elected officials. Statewide, 4.7 percent of our elected officials are
black. For the record, in 1968 the percentage was 0.18.
          I do not report these figures in order to argue that the percentage
of black elected officials or black legislators should necessarily
correspond precisely with the percentage of black population. However,
the comparison is a bench mark of black participation in government
and an indicator of how much progress is yet to be made.
          The unavoidable conclusion is that in spite of a steady increase in
black registration and voting in North Carolina, there is widespread
and massive under-representation of black voters in the political
affairs of the state. Whether by the design of political leadership or
by prejudice of white voters, blacks have been denied the opportunity
to participate in the process which determines how we are governed. So
long as that is true, there can be little accountability or fair, open
decision making in government.
          Representative government for blacks is also important for
whites. Unless the primary obstacles to full participation in the
electoral process are removed, public confidence in government,
citizen access to government, and public accountability of government
officials will be unreached goals for both black and white
citizens.
          I am asking the General Assembly to face squarely and honestly the
notion that a fair system of representation is essential to
democracy. If you do that, you must agree that blacks need more
representation in government and you must come down unequivocally in
support of an electoral system based on single member districts
throughout our state.
          Legislatures in thirty states are already elected from single
member districts including Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and
Louisiana.
          Single member districts provide a wider diversity of interests in
the legislature. Voters have clearer choices. Legislators have more
responsive and loyal constituencies while at the same time the
legislator is required to be more accountable.
          Single member districts provide each of us with a sense of a
greater stake in the responsibilities of government. There is no way
that North Carolina can fail to emerge from such a process except as a
stronger, more unified state in which needs will be met and problems
will be solved.
          
            The late Raymond Wheeler, a former president of the
Southern Regional Council, made these comments to a North Carolina
legislative committee on redistricting on Feb. 4, 1982.
          
        