Annual MLK Jr. Day workshop goes virtual
Key efforts to disenfranchise mostly voters of color experienced a crippling blow after the Aug. 6, 1965, passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act, but similar practices continue today in the form of gerrymandering voting districts, a longtime lawyer contends.
“This is a nonpartisan issue; this issue is about fairness and maintaining democracy in Ohio,” Atty. Percy Squire of Columbus, formerly of Youngstown, said.
Squire, who also ran a series of radio stations in the area, was one of the main speakers for Monday morning’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. workshop, set up largely to honor and commemorate the civil rights and humanitarian leader’s life, work and legacy.
The event, themed “Saving Our Democracy,” was to take place at First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown, but because of the extreme cold, it was conducted virtually.
Close to 60 community leaders and others attended the 2.5-hour session sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Planning Committee of the Mahoning Valley. The Rev. Kenneth L. Simon and Jaladah Aslam, both committee members, served as moderators.
“It’s the same thing,” Squire said when asked if he sees parallels between today’s intentional gerrymandering practices to dilute votes and yesteryear’s efforts to implement poll taxes, literacy tests and other barriers to keep blacks in the Jim Crow South from registering to vote.
Ohio is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country, he said. Squire cited the 6th District, which divides Mahoning and Trumbull counties, and runs nearly 200 miles along the West Virginia border and Ohio River to Marietta, in Washington County. Trumbull is in the 14th District.
“It’s a totally absurd district,” Squire said, referring to the 6th. “Any way you look at it, Mahoning and Trumbull counties should be in the same congressional district.”
Later this year, the state is to redraw the boundaries for its 15 congressional districts, ahead of the 2026 election. Historically, they had been redrawn every 10 years, in line with each U.S. Census.
The state Constitution requires that Ohio’s legislative and congressional districts align with voting patterns.
Nevertheless, Squire expressed concern that gerrymandering practices will continue and said that the possibility of filing a lawsuit against such efforts looms.
Even the Voting Rights Act likely won’t be a remedy for those who feel they have been discriminated against or disenfranchised. Such claims and challenges will have to be filed with the office of Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, Squire noted.
The other presenter was Kathleen Gaige of Canfield, a member of the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown, who noted that on two occasions in the last 10 years, voters approved reforms from the Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up of seven elected officials, which had been created via an amendment to the state Constitution and approved in November 2015.
The Ohio Supreme Court, however, deemed seven redistricting maps unconstitutional because they were out of line with a provision to refrain from favoring one party over another.
“It’s better to not let elected officials draw maps,” Gaige said.
Most Ohioans favor fairer voting districts, yet Issue 1 failed in the Nov. 5 general election largely because of intentionally confusing and conflicting language — something that often has the effect of causing voters to skip the measure or vote no, Gaige explained.
If it had passed, Issue 1 would have established a new citizen commission to draw the state’s legislative and congressional districts. Consequently, Ohio continues using the method led by state lawmakers and the redistricting commission.
“We need to regroup and figure out what impact we can make,” Gaige said, noting that organizations such as the A. Phillip Randolph Institute (named in honor of Randolph, a staunch civil rights leader who came up with the concept for the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom), the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the Ohio Council of Churches, Common Cause Ohio and Fair Districts Ohio need to spearhead such efforts.
Also during the workshop, attendees took part in several online breakout sessions aimed at examining what roles citizens can take to save democracy, exploring how to better educate the community on gerrymandering and focusing on additional issues to try to tackle this year.
Educational workshops already are planned in 2025 on women’s rights and voting rights, Simon said.
After reconvening, participants came up with possible solutions to gerrymandering that included having churches and other bodies keep the issue “front and center,” working locally with organizations such as the Community Mobilization Committee, reinforcing that everyone holds the right to vote, conducting mock elections in schools to stress the importance and process of voting to young people, explaining gerrymandering in layman’s terms to youth, stressing the importance of voting along all levels of government and providing voting information at youth centers, including the Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown.
Other ideas included engaging with school boards and social studies teachers to include gerrymandering in curriculums, inviting speakers to the Youngstown City Schools to discuss the practice, supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that many feel are under attack, educating others on how corporate donations impact many elected officials, getting more people to connect voting with impacts on their daily lives and watching the actions of the state Legislature and responding proactively instead of reactively when necessary.
“It’s going to take all of us to make a difference,” Simon said in summing up an action plan.