Memo: Regarding the Release of 2020 Census Block Data and Redistricting
Memorandum
To: Texas Media and other interested parties
From: Matt Angle, Lone Star Project Founder and Director
Re: Release of U.S. Census Block-level Data and Redistricting
Date: August 12, 2021
The release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 block-level data showing the growth & ethnicity of the Texas population sounds the bell for redistricting – the primary tool that Texas Republicans have used to hold power by undermining & discriminating against Hispanic and Black Texans.
The Lone Star Project – working in support of the Texas Justice and Education Fund and with other allies committed to protecting voting rights – will be deeply engaged in the legal effort to block Texas Republican plans to illegitimately hold power by suppressing minority voters and denying basic voting rights to millions of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and other minority Texans. It is a battle that must be engaged and can be won. Under the current map, there are Congressional, State Senate and State House districts created or preserved where minority voters elect their candidate of choice ONLY because of the legal battle waged. And, this effort could get a major boost in the weeks ahead if Congress adopts the John Lewis Voting Rights Restoration Act.
Here are important points to keep in mind in the weeks ahead as the redistricting battle is fully engaged:
• Before the detailed data was delivered, we knew that Texas residents were undercounted. Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick, and all other Texas Republican leaders refused to do what leaders of both parties in many other states did – invest in local complete count programs to assure that all Texans are included in our state’s total. Abbott and the others cost Texas at least one congressional seat – holding the gain to only 2 instead of the expected 3 or 4.
• Even with an undercount, however, we now know officially that Hispanic, Black, & Asian population growth is dramatically outpacing Anglos. The ONLY reason Texas is gaining new seats is minority population growth.
• Also, as expected the areas with the greatest population increases are the DFW metroplex, Austin/San Antonio, and the Houston region. But, since there are only 2 new seats, one of these regions will be cut out of getting the additional congressional representation warranted.
Read more: https://lonestarproject.net/2021/08/12/2020censusblockmemo/
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