“Gerrymandering” is a word that Latinos should learn, specially in census time and considering that it is anticipated that this minority will have a significant increase.

The Census 2010 will be this year; the results will be disclosed the next one, and Hispanics will be a tasty catch for some, or a rock stuck in the shoe for others.

Along with the new data from the Census 2010, comes a big fight in the redistribution of all electoral districts across the country, and among officials in Congress, Councils and assemblies.

For the rookies, “Gerrymandering” may constitute a keyword to attempt to understand the redistricting process. In practice, it is an outburst since districts are divided by electoral political interests.

Although this practice was suppressed by the Supreme Court, redistricting in some regions and cities, like Philadelphia is far from transparent.

“Gerrymandering” or “political manipulation” doesn’t care that the resulting districts end up disperse and will and cause administrative stumbles.

District Seven in Philadelphia is a bad national example. Ex-Councilman Angel Ortiz refers to it as “The Snake” because of its long and disperse shape. This District, which is casually hispanic, gets the golden medal as the “most gerrymandered” in the country, while its neighbor, District Five, gets bronze.

Redistricting in Philadelphia is not exactly a public process. Latinos will have to be more active when participating in commissions which will hopefully be created for that purpose. Hispanics will have to prevent “racial gerrymandering”, which more than a snake looks like a tapeworm, from devouring their aspirations for political representation according to its growing number.