Natchez — Black residents of voting age now outnumber white residents of voting age by 1,350 people in Natchez, according to 2010 Census data.

In 2000, black voters outnumbered white voters by only 209 people.

And the change in those numbers should be taken into consideration in the city’s redistricting process, two Natchez aldermen and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People say.

The company hired by the city to handle redistricting has presented its plan, and the board hopes to cast a final vote on the matter Thursday, following a Tuesday public hearing on the plan.

The plan presented to the board Tuesday by Holland and Rigby Political Redistricting Consulting includes three majority black wards — 1, 2 and 4.

Wards 3 and 6 are majority white.

Ward 5, in the latest proposed plan, is 51.78 percent white and 45.69 percent black.

That’s a change from the existing plan, which has 45.4 percent white voters in Ward 5 and 52.29 percent black voters.

Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said this week that her biggest concern with the redistricting plan on the table lies in Ward 5.

Mathis said the percentages were similar during the last redistricting process when the U.S. Department of Justice contacted her with concerns about the plan.

“If you’re in a ward that is, by virtue, already predominantly black, why are you taking it and diluting it,” Mathis said.

Mathis would not directly say she wanted four majority black districts, simply saying she wanted the wards to reflect the population trends in Natchez.

Mathis referenced that the city’s total white population is 6,248 and the total black population is 9,216.

The total white voting age population is 5,317. The total black voting age population is 6,530.

Alderman James “Rickey” Gray agreed that the numbers speak for themselves.

William Rigby, of Holland and Rigby, said the difference between the black and white voting age population in Ward 5 is not drastic enough to support a fourth majority black ward without shifting population around and changing the current racial makeup in Wards 1, 2 and 4.

The black voting age population for the 2000 census data in the plan pre-cleared by the justice department for Ward 1 is approximately 70 percent, Ward 2 is 96 percent and Ward 4 is 70 percent.

Ribgy said maintaining the black voting age population at exactly what it previously was does not matter in Wards 3, 5 and 6 because they are not majority-minority wards and have never been.

Though Mathis and Gray have expressed concern with phone calls they received from the U.S. Department of Justice after the 2000 redistricting effort, Rigby said he is almost always contacted by the Department of Justice during redistricting processes, and it is standard procedure.

Rigby said his goal is to try to maintain the numbers in the last redistricting plan that was pre-cleared by the department.

“There is nothing surreptitious going on,” he said.

Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice in Office of Public Affairs, said officials are generally contacted during the redistricting process.

“Generally, we talk to officials in different states during submissions,” she said. “It depends on the process.”

Hinojosa said the department also accepts comments on any redistricting plan.

Hinojosa said she could not comment on whether Natchez city officials would be contacted during the current redistricting process.

Gray said his only concern was doing what’s right.

“The color shouldn’t make any difference,” Gray said. “It shouldn’t be a black and white thing, what about what’s right?”

Both Mathis and Gray said they did not think any ward should have an overwhelming population of one race as is the case in Ward 2.

“We’re trying to make this city be a city for everyone,” Gray said. “We don’t want it to continue to be a tale of two cities. I really do think (the lines) should be drawn to reflect it evenly.”

The Natchez Board of Aldermen will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday.