In her June 23 opinion piece, “Redistricting must be fair for Black voters,” Kayla Griffin states that Black people have been “unjustly” treated in Ohio under the current system of redistricting. However, three of Ohio’s 15 congressional districts are currently represented by Black representatives -- Shontel Brown (my representative) in the 11th Congressional District; Joyce Beatty in the 3rd Congressional District; and Emilia Sykes in the 13th Congressional District.
This equates to 20% of Ohio’s members of Congress being Black in a state that was 12.4% Black as of the 2020 US Census. I’m not saying the proposed redistricting ballot measure, “Citizens Not Politicians,” is good or bad, just that Ms. Griffin’s claim that Blacks are not being treated fairly in Ohio under the current system is not correct.
Steven P. King,
Chagrin Falls