http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a MSN - AP World Copyright © 2010-2018 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Tue, 13 May 2025 10:48:22 +0000 http://syn2.thecanadianpress.com:8080/mrss/feed/fcf7391a2f354311807f0501c16bde6a/da02b7d55f214e27a9762ce7b1a003d5 da02b7d55f214e27a9762ce7b1a003d5 Thu, 02 Feb 2023 10:08:13 +0000 SHOTLIST:RESTRICTION SUMMARY:++MUSIC CLEARED FOR EDITORIAL USE++ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 17 January 20231. Downtown Jacksonville and St. Johns river2. Sign reading (English) "Voting precinct 903"3. Car pulling into parking lot in voting district 7ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 18 January 2023++PARTIALLY COVERED++4. SOUNDBITE (English) Marcella Washington, Lawsuit plaintiff:?"We have some work to do in Jacksonville. It's my hometown. I really care about this city, county, and I want to do the work that's been done. But there's a tremendous amount of work to be done because it's a highly segregated city and having District seven, eight, and nine continue to be packed will make it even continue the segregation. So we want to stop that."ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 17 January 20235. Cars pass building with sign reading (English) "Vote"ANNOTATION: A group of Jacksonville residents and civil rights organizations successfully sued the city last year.6. Sign reading (English) "Vote"ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 18 January 20237. People walking in downtown JacksonvilleANNOTATION: They allege that the new redistricting plan amounted to racial gerrymandering by packing Black communities into a handful of districts.ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 17 January 20238. Various of Holder working at her desk++PARTIALLY COVERED++9. SOUNDBITE (English) Moné Holder, Florida Rising:?"It's about diluting, you know, Black representation, Black power and change that needs to happen in the Black community. Others may tell a different story as to why it is. But we see it in, you know, the lack of resources that go into those communities."10. People and traffic in voting district 711. American flagANNOTATION: Activists say forcing Black residents into a handful of council districts has led to a sense in those communities that their voice doesn't matter.ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 18 January 2023++PARTIALLY COVERED++12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary McCoy, Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters:?"When you pack a group of people together, then these people don't have a say. Their vote happens to be wasted. And this is why I'm out in the community a lot."ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 17 January 202313. People and traffic in voting district 7ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 18 January 202314. Flagpoles in front of city hall15. Poster reading (English) "Making the movement" inside Ben Frazier's officeANNOTATION: A U.S. district court judge last fall ruled in their favor and ordered the maps redrawn. 16. Jacksonville city hallANNOTATION: Council members would not comment because of the ongoing legal battle. 17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Frazier, Northside Coalition of Jacksonville:++PARTIALLY COVERED++?"I'm hopeful that there will be other cities in other states who will look at Jacksonville, Florida, and say, Jacksonville, Florida, moved against them, and maybe we should too."ASSOCIATED PRESSJacksonville, Florida - 17 January 202318. Downtown Jacksonville and St. Johns riverSTORYLINE:A protracted legal fight over how city council districts were drawn in Jacksonville, Florida, reflects an aspect of redistricting that often remains in the shadows. Political map-drawing for congressional and state legislative seats captures wide attention after new census numbers are released every 10 years. No less fierce are the battles over the way voting lines are drawn in local governments, for city councils, county commissions and even school boards. A group of Jacksonville residents and civil rights organizations successfully sued the city last year, alleging the council's redistricting plan amounted to racial gerrymandering by packing Black communities into a handful of districts.A U.S. district court judge last fall ruled in their favor and ordered the maps redrawn. Advocates said the city returned with more of the same, and in December the same court ordered that a map proposed by the advocates be used for Jacksonville's elections this spring.The gerrymandering for local government bodies receives far less attention than congressional or state legislative gerrymandering, in part because few local groups have the money and expertise to bring lawsuits against what they perceive as unfair maps.Jacksonville is an exception. Local branches of the NAACP and ACLU teamed up with community civil rights groups to challenge the maps the City Council approved in March 2022.Some community activists trace the city's redistricting problems to a 1968 consolidation with Duval County, which allowed the city to grow but also changed its racial dynamics. At the time, it was hoped that a mix of predominantly Black council districts and at-large council positions would help boost Black representation.Yet in the more than half century since the merger, just six Black residents have served in the at-large positions, which are elected on a citywide basis, and just two of those were Democrats, according to research by Marcella Washington, a retired Florida State College at Jacksonville political science professor who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.Black residents made up at least 40% of Jacksonville's total population at the time of the consolidation, and today account for a little over 30%.While seven members of today's Jacksonville council are Black, Washington said they don't always vote in the interest of the Black community.Other residents noted additional concerns in predominantly Black areas of Jacksonville they feel the council does not prioritize — city properties that are overgrown, problems with water and sewer service, inadequate services for the homeless.Local activists say forcing Black residents into a handful of council districts has led to a sense in those communities that their voice doesn't matter. That has made it difficult to get them engaged politically, said Rosemary McCoy, a plaintiff in the lawsuit and CEO of the Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters, a nonprofit that registers new voters.Ben Frazier, another plaintiff in the case and CEO of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, which focuses on injustice, said he would like the court fight in Jacksonville to inspire other groups around the country to challenge local redistricting maps when they appear to be drawn unfairly.AP video shot by Cody Jackson ===========================================================Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: info@aparchive.com(ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. Florida city highlights impacts of gerrymandering