As U.S. Census figures roll out and states begin the politically charged process of redrawing state legislative maps, the politics of race is rising up as minority groups demand that their lawmakers look more like the communities they represent. At issue is just how they do that and the two very different political approaches to promising minorities better representation in state Legislatures. One strategy concentrates minorities in a district, known as packing, the other dilutes them, often called cracking. --- Democrats and political watchers say there’s no question that packing is being pursued. “It’s a national strategy,” said senior political analyst David A. Bositis at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. “Democrats want to spread out minorities. Republicans want to create white districts, or ones with a small enough minority population that it won’t have an effect on the vote.”
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