Cite as: 517 U. S. 952 (1996)
Stevens, J., dissenting
testimony given in a legal proceeding designed to prove a conflicting conclusion,24 this information does little more than confirm that the State believed it necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Given its reasonable understanding of its legal responsibilities, see supra, at 1007, the legislature acted to ensure that its goal of creating a majority-black district in Dallas County was not undermined by the changes made to accommodate District 30 to other, race-neutral districting principles. As the plurality admits, see ante, at 958, the intent to create majority-minority districts does not in itself trigger strict scrutiny; these admissions prove nothing more than that. See also Shaw II, ante, at 930-932 (Stevens, J., dissenting).
Nonracial Factors: Community
In an effort to provide a definitive explanation for the odd shape of the district, the State emphasized two factors: The
cal and very rational. The lines have been drawn, dissecting communities very creatively in order to pack Republicans and maximize Democratic representation." Id., at 376 (statement of Rep. Gusendorf).
See also id., at 377-380 (statement of Rep. Gusendorf illustrating the gerrymandering process by reference to District 6, not a majority-minority district).
These gerrymanders "d[o] not have to happen. It has nothing to do with fairness. It has nothing to do with minority representation because if we were really concerned about minority representation, we would have drawn this map in such a way that the minorities were considered and not simply to elect Democrats." Id., at 384 (statement of Rep. Hill).
24 It is ironic and slightly unfair for the plurality and District Court to use the State's § 5 submission and Congresswoman Johnson's testimony in a § 2 challenge to the congressional district as evidence against them in these cases. See, e. g., 861 F. Supp., at 1319-1321, 1338-1339; ante, at 969-970. Both of those proceedings required the State to assure the Attorney General and a federal court, respectively, that the State had adequately considered the interests of minority voters in the 1991 redistricting process. Under such circumstances, it is not at all surprising that the relevant declarant would limit his or her comments to the role that race played in the redistricting process, for other considerations were largely irrelevant (the District Court's opinion to the contrary notwithstanding, see 861 F. Supp., at 1339).
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