WS Chronicle

One day we have U.S. Rep. Alma Adams of Greensboro fighting for us in Congress. The next day we have strangers vying to represent us in Congress in a different district. The topsy-turvy redistricting of 2016 has provided a loss to the Forsyth County African-Americans on the east side who have had African-American representation since 1993, with Mel Watt and Alma Adams.

With the latest gerrymandering after a federal court struck down North Carolina’s congressional districts as too racially concentrated in Districts 1 and 12 comes confusion.

The 12th District, which is the district Alma Adams is in now, included much of the Triad. The new 12th District includes only Mecklenburg County. Adams plans to move there to remain in that district. She had two opponents in the Democratic primary and two Republicans vying for her seat before the redistricting. Now she has six Democrats and three Republicans vying for the seat.

Forsyth County African-Americans on the east side will now be in the 5th District. Incumbent Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, has three Democrats vying for her seat. She has one Republican challenger in the primary. None of the candidates live in Winston-Salem. None are African-American.

We African-Americans need to make our voices known in the 5th District. The Democratic congressional primary is June 7. That gives us about 10 weeks to check out the candidates and select a representative who will represent us.