Our mandated redistricting is now being manipulated right in front of our eyes under the legislative guise of protecting minority voter districts. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Signaling a desire not to disenfranchise minorities, the minority redistricting principle could once again carve majority voting blocs out of what’s left after minority areas are cordoned off and treated separately. Isn’t that just what the voters rejected — voter segregation and manipulation through bizarre districting maps?

The only method to truly address the disenfranchised voter may be to integrate. If 40 percent of the voting populace is segregated into their own districts it seems they can always be outvoted by the 60 percent majority districts. Sounds positive, but seems to work badly in giving the minority a real voice.

The intended path of simple, clean districts may actually provide the greatest protection against disenfranchising the minority voters. No representative can ignore a constituency with a 40- to 50-percent minority or majority base whether that minority is black, white or Hispanic. Elected officials will have to address the whole district to succeed.

If there’s a danger, a real chance to disenfranchise any minority in redistricting, it may lie in placing them in district structures where they would never exceed a percentage less than their actual percentage in the population. To that end, we could applaud efforts to protect district makeup. Otherwise, we are being duped by language that seems fair on the surface, but is actually a return to business-as-usual for gerrymandering.

Scott Wenger, Miami Beach