Rosa Parks Moment Unfolding in Minnesota, Tuesday

For the First Time a Seat at the Political Table

January 3, 2022 Dr. Bruce Peter Corrie ALANA Brain Trust, Policy, Redistricting Comments Off

There is a historic, “Rosa Parks Moment” unfolding in Minnesota, on Tuesday at the state Supreme Court Judicial Panel on Redistricting for the first time in Minnesotan history, will receive arguments offered by the ALANA (African Latino Asian and Native American) voters on par with other political interests on how political boundaries should be drawn in Minnesota. These political boundaries influence the chance of an ALANA individual to get elected to public office.

This effort caps over two decades of advocacy by the ALANA communities and in particular the work of OneMN.org. This time, under the leadership of Annastacia Belladona-Carrera of Common Cause and Brett Buckner of OneMN.org, the ALANA community’s legal petition to be included in the court-appointed redistricting process was accepted. Unlike the legislative process where the ALANA communities are heard but not offered an equal place at the table – in the Court proceedings, the ALANA communities have a seat at the table and can make their case. This case will be presented to the redistricting panel on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. The session is live-streamed so anyone can watch it. (In full disclosure I am one of the plaintiffs in the petition).

The ALANA plaintiffs, Dr. Bruce Corrie, Shelly Diaz, Alberder Gillespie, Xiongpao Lee, Abdirazak Mahboub, Aida Simon, Beatriz Winters, Common Cause, OneMinnesota.org, and Voices for Racial Justice are represented Pro Bono, by Brian Dillon and Amy Erickson of the law firm, Lathrop GPM, LLP. Todd Stump, a technical expert, and the team from Common Cause (Dan Vicuna, Kathay Feng, Sarah Andre) incorporated public testimony into the ALANA map.

What is different about the ALANA (Corrie) map compared to the other three maps all named after the lead plaintiff name on the respective petitions – Wattson (nonpartisan), Anderson (GOP), and Sachs (DFL)?

The ALANA map makes the case that number of current ALANA elected officials is much lower than the number of elected officials if there was equal representation (just 12 percent versus 20 percent). To address this disparity, the redistricting process should give a higher priority to “communities of interest” defined to include racial and ethnic communities.

In drawing a map to maximize ALANA political representation, wide input from ALANA communities was received statewide.

My analysis of the map is that among the four maps, the ALANA map not only provides the best opportunity for ALANA communities to be elected but also provides the best opportunities for political influence in terms of the number of ALANA voters in a political district.

Key Insights

It maintains the strong political presence in the 4^th and 5^th Congressional districts
It offers stronger political representation beyond the traditional 4^th and 5^th Congressional districts – in CD 1, CD3, CD7 and CD8.
It restores ALANA political power across Minnesota and especially in Native American communities. In CD8 for instance a sizeable presence of Native American voters.
For African American voters, while the Watson Map are the strongest for CD 4, CD5 and CD6, the ALANA maps build greater ALANA representation in CD 1, CD 3 & CD7.
For Asian American voters, the ALANA map maintains strength in CD 4 and CD 5 and builds political representation in CD 1, CD 2, and CD 7.
For Latino voters, the ALANA map maintains strength in CD 4 and CD 5 and builds strength in CD 7 and CD 8.
For Native American voters, the ALANA map maintains strength in CD 2 &CD 5 and builds political representation in CD 1, CD 3, and CD8.
Overall, the ALANA Map maintains strength in CD 4 and CD 5 and leads in CD 3 and CD 8.

I observe that current legal arguments are dancing around the status quo offering only marginal improvement. This is Minnesota’s biggest failure – inadequate ALANA political representation in the form of elected officials as well as inadequate ALANA political influence is a major reason why Minnesota has the largest racial economic disparities in the nation.

As illustrated in the last legislative cycle, where even the word “equity” was removed from last-minute political negotiations in conference committees, the $1.4 trillion ALANA economy is not adequately represented, and it is time to do the right thing. Maximizing ALANA political representation in elected office and ALANA political influence is the need of the political hour today.

(Link to the livestream on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, as well as the four redistricting maps can be found at this link https://www.mncourts.gov/2021redistrictingpanel).

Thanks to Linden Wisewerda for work on the 2011 ALANA map and to members of OneMN.org who participated a decade ago.

About Dr. Bruce Peter Corrie 74 Articles

Economist rooted in the experience of ALANA (African Latino Asian Native American) communities with expertise in economic and academic inclusion and community empowerment. Pioneering work in the creation of "Cultural Destinations" a strategy to leverage cultural assets for wealth building in low income diverse communities. My work has been inspired by Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Paulo Freire. Economist and a steward of the ALANA Brain Trust which works to bring capital and capacity to the ALANA communities.