Ongoing California redistricting causes concern among many minority groups.

“This redrawing of the district lines comes as a surprise following several key items on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s wishlist, including reflecting minority populations in newly-Asian-majority districts in the East Bay Area, increasing Latino populations in District 18, and two Black-majority districts in Los Angeles,” said Greg Lin Tanaka, Palo Alto City Council Member. Tanaka is a driving voice behind promoting social justice in redistricting.

Under the proposed new boundaries, Silicon Valley would continue to be divided up.  Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, and Los Gatos would be grouped with La Honda and Pescadero: curiously carving out Cupertino, Fremont, and parts of San Jose.  These new districts are not huge changes but deserve criticism for diluting the influence of Asian American, Latino, African American and LGBTQ residents.

Without key representation in Asian-dominated areas, these new redistricting decisions mute the voices of local Asian Americans and other minorities. The splitting up of minority groups is one form of gerrymandering and it is unacceptable in today’s climate. For a self-proclaimed progressive state like California, such redistricting decisions are disheartening. In light of the brutality Asian Americans faced due to the pandemic, Asian citizens are more politically active than ever before and deserve to have a stake in politics.