Black voters of Baton Rouge’s Scotlandville community face new political reality after Louisiana redistricting

The Baton Rouge community’s Black voting-age population has fallen from 53% to 25% under the state’s new congressional map.

A predominantly Black community in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is facing a major shift in political representation after a new congressional map dramatically reduced the Black voting-age population in the district that includes Scotlandville.

The nearly all-Black community of roughly 10,000 residents has twice been moved into a majority-white congressional district, according to The Associated Press’ report on the community’s changing political landscape.

At the center of the issue is Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields, a Scotlandville native who grew up in the community, attended local schools and graduated from Southern University A&M. Fields won his current congressional seat in 2024 after a previous redistricting effort created a majority-Black district.

That district has now been redrawn following a U.S. Supreme Court decision that found Louisiana’s previous map unconstitutional. Under the new boundaries, the district’s Black voting-age population dropped from 53% to 25%, according to AP.

Fields announced in July that he would not seek reelection, saying the dramatically altered district gave him little chance of winning.

For Scotlandville residents, however, the issue extends beyond one congressional race. It is about whether the community will continue to have a representative with a personal understanding of its history and challenges.

“We’re back to where we were right after Reconstruction,” Press Robinson Sr., 89, told AP. “When they redistrict, they are not concerned about the effect it has on those of us who are people of color.”

The Supreme Court ruling has had implications beyond Louisiana. Alabama and Tennessee have also redrawn congressional districts amid a broader national fight over the political power of Black voters and control of the U.S. House ahead of the November midterm elections.

In Scotlandville, residents are particularly concerned about what happens when Fields is no longer representing the area.

“The community is small and everybody knows everybody. Cleo is a member of our community,” local business owner Dakasha Caulfield Leonard told AP. “If he doesn’t speak up and carry our voices, there’s nobody else to do that for us.”

Fields’ influence in the community extends beyond Congress. He founded the Louisiana Leadership Institute, which has provided civic and leadership education to local young people for decades.

Baton Rouge Councilman Anthony Kenney Jr., who participated in the institute as a child, said the loss of Fields’ congressional representation was “devastating.”

“It’s important for us to have representation that not only is from here, raised here, but actually lived through that same experiences,” Kenney said.

For Scotlandville, the new congressional map represents more than a change in boundaries. Residents now face a new political reality in a community that has spent decades fighting to ensure its voice is heard in Washington.