“Only by reading the voluminous lawsuits filed against the state can one  appreciate just how creative Texas Republicans had to be to so successfully  dilute and suppress the state’s minority vote. According to a lawsuit filed by a  host of civil rights groups, “even though Whites’ share of the population  declined from 52 percent to 45 percent, they remain the majority in 70 percent  of Congressional Districts.” To cite just one of many examples: in the  Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Hispanic population increased by 440,898, the  African-American population grew by 152,825 and the white population fell by  156,742. Yet white Republicans, a minority in the metropolis, control four of  five Congressional seats. Despite declining in population, white Republicans  managed to pick up two Congressional seats in the Dallas and Houston areas. In  fact, whites are the minority in the state’s five largest counties but control  twelve of nineteen Congressional districts.” -Ari Berman, The Nation

 

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/blog/174652/texas-redistricting-fight-shows-why-voting-rights-act-still-needed#ixzz2VckBdLmg