Constitutionally, there is to be a census every 10 years in America. The census is an official survey of the total population in country. Based on this census, seats are appropriated to each state. States get represented based on population size, therefore a state like North Dakota would only get one seat because it is scarcely populated, whereas New York has 27 congressional members to represent their densely populated state. Since population changes, these seats can and probably will always end up being re-apropriated to different states to accommodate these population shifts. The shift in congressional seats between states calls for re-districting. You do not simply remove a member and attach that district to an existing district, instead you need to redistribute the population to the number of congressional members available. Redistricting is vital in representation, but can become fatal when done for political gain at the cost of minority representation. The bias drained district lines are called Gerrymandering. Gerrymandering becomes racial when these district lines chop and screw minority communities such that their vote has no impact against the dominant groups vote. BY breaking up these communities that have a common ideology and scattering them about opposing ideologies with grander support and say. Lines have been altered to keep politicians in incumbent positions, to break up minority communities, and racially segregate majorities from minorities.
O’Loughlin, John. “The Identification And Evaluation Of Racial Gerrymandering.” Annals Of The Association Of American Geographers 72.2 (1982): 165-184. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2015.
The following book is a prime source in identifying racial gerrymandering and its faults. Its historical, current and detailed context offers various facets of how racial gerrymandering was created, is used and is justified.