That gerrymandered district you Republicans hate so much? I didn’t draw it.

I am often amused, and sometimes bemused, at the expressions that often grace this space. Bemusement was the case with the machinations of James Wilson on Jan. 31 (“Jim Clyburn is poster child for gerrymandering”).

Apparently, Mr. Wilson is not aware that in South Carolina, redistricting is done by the Legislature. Any gerrymandering of election districts is the product of the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

I can assure Mr. Wilson that if I had drawn the lines, my district would not be 58 percent black, and Joe Wilson, with whom I share Columbia and Richland County, would not have a district that is 68 percent white. Also, I would not have made the 1st District (Mark Sanford) 70 percent white, the 3rd (Jeff Duncan) 75 percent white, the 4th (Trey Gowdy) 70 percent white, the 5th (Ralph Norman) 66 percent white and the 7th (Tom Rice) more than 63 percent white.

I am hopeful that when redistricting is done after the 2020 decennial census, stacking and bleaching will not be the primary goals.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.

This story was originally published February 7, 2018 at 3:48 PM with the headline "That gerrymandered district you Republicans hate so much? I didn’t draw it.."