Racial redistricting is an electoral division method aimed at increasing the number of black and Hispanic representatives by promoting the concentration of members of these two groups in constituencies specially defined for this purpose. In practice, it reflects the implicit adoption of a standard of proportional representation of certain minorities defined on an ethno-racial basis. This paper traces the politico-legal origins of the mechanism, its effects–“both direct and indirect–“and attempts at its justification, which resulted in the reconceptualization of democratic representation that has nevertheless reached the end of its usefulness.