Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 22, 1994                   TAG: 9403220180
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE PROBLEM ISN'T AT-LARGE ELECTIONS

"Unusual," he said, which may well be so.

"Probably ... unconstitutional," he said, which likely isn't so.

"Taxation without representation," he said.

Give us a break.

Plenty is wrong these days with race relations in America, and the Roanoke Valley isn't immune. But the system of at-large councilmanic elections in Roanoke has for the past decade and a half been a race-relations success story.

Granted, that's not often the case with at-large election systems. They can be a device to shut minorities out of influence in government. The American Civil Liberties Union has made a cottage industry in Virginia of challenging at-large systems in court.

But the ACLU hasn't challenged the system in Roanoke; it would be hard to make the facts support a case.

For years, two of Roanoke's seven council members have been African Americans - a somewhat higher percentage than the city's population and electorate as a whole. And it's not just the result of the race-transcending popularity of former Mayor Noel Taylor, though that probably played a role in establishing the conditions by which voting polarization by race could be muted. When Taylor retired, the election of another black Roanoker to City Council maintained the 5-2 ratio.

This is not to say that candidates favored in predominantly black neighborhoods are uniformly successful. Why should they be? But candidates favored in those neighborhoods are at least as successful as those favored in any other part of the city. Because of the at-large system, candidates of both races and both parties must appeal to voters of the other race if they are to have a hope of election, and must give some thought to the welfare of the city as a whole.

If all spheres of life were as well-integrated as Roanoke City Council elections, the Roanoke Valley would be an unparalleled success in race relations. It isn't, of course, and councilmanic elections are but one small part of Roanoke Valley life. Moreover, the way in which the at-large system works here to promote integration is mostly the result of accidents of history, not of any noble design.

All this adds up to reason for staying alert to the vital signs of the at-large system, to make sure it's still working right. But assuming that all at-large systems are alike, that all work to reduce minority influence, is fallacious. It is an example, however small and relatively benign, of the kind of stereotyping that creates racism and ethnic conflict in the first place.

Keywords:
POLITICS