At 04:48 PM 2/14/02 -0600, Jenkins, Andrea D wrote: Andrea Jenkins wrote: >Histrorically , I and other people who are not wealthy, not male , not >white, have not been able to count on their "representatives" to represent. >andrea jenkins >Bryant I guess the way I look at it is that our representatives work for us -- and they work for all of their constituents -- regardless of gender, race and political philosophy.
I guess what bothers me is the assumption that as a gay person, someone like Rick Stafford -- who also happens to be gay -- is going to represent my interests on the redistricting commission. Matthea Little Smith writes: I am not saying those that don't look like me will purposefully misrepresent me, but I truly would feel more comfortable with someone that I know has demonstrated they have the same or similar values making major decisions about my life. ====================================== In my experience, I have not always found that sharing a characteristic -- being gay, being white, being over 40, or whatever makes me share values with people. I find the discussion on women in politics quite interesting. I have found it hard to find -- in real life -- other women who share an interest in talking about politics the way I do. That's one reason why this list -- and other political lists are nice -- because it gives me a good outlet to express my political views -- and to debate them -- without boring or alienating my friends. In my opinion a representative needs to represent all their constituents period. Are there issues that identity groups share? Sure there are. However, I think in politics we gain more by mixing it up with a variety of people from a variety of demographics and life experiences than isolating into identity groups or "subcaucuses". Eva Eva Young Central Speaking for myself not anyone else _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
