BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — The Unity Map redistricts Ward 7 to prioritize representation for the growing Punjabi Sikh population in Bakersfield.
- The Unity Map rezoned Ward 7 to reflect the growing population of Punjabi Sikh immigrants.
- The Punjabi Sikh community in Bakersfield is the 3rd highest concentration in California.
- The Unity Map aimed to keep communities together in the same ward.
- GIS mapping technology helped create fair lines for representation.
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Broadcast transcript:
Every 10 years the city uses data to redraw its ward lines. The Unity Map is a redistricting map that rezoned Ward 7 with a focus on the Punjabi Sikh community.
Over the last 100 years, the Punjabi community has found a home right here in California. According to Manpreet Kaur, Bakersfield City Councilwoman for Ward 7, she tells me that here in Bakersfield we have the 3rd highest concentration of the Punjabi Sikh community, and it's important to keep communities in the same ward.
"Each district is looked at and that district is evaluated to see if communities are being kept together. That can be demographically, that can be age-wise. There is a certain calculation that's done to make sure these districts are representative of the communities that live in them." Manpreet Kaur said.
Manpreet Kaur says that before the 2022 redistricting, the Punjabi Sikh community was separated between two different wards.
"A line was being drawn to literally cut in half, separate people to even be in the same district as their places of worship, the parks that they frequent, the schools that their children attend." She said.
G-I-S mapping helped draw out the Unity Map, which inspired author David Yarnold to write a book about people's lives who've benefited from GIS mapping.
Raji Brar, Co-founder of Bakersfield Sikh Women's Association, says, "The most impactful part of his research was what happened in the city of Bakersfield, and how this GIS mapping technology and tools helped create 'quote-on-quote' fair lines that helped folks get representation of what they really needed."
There will be an event at CSUB on October 9th, to talk more about the Unity Map and the Punjabi Sikh community.
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