WASHINGTON — Washington entered another productive day of racial mathematics this week after activists warned that the Supreme Court’s Callais decision could reduce Black representation in Congress, sending political operatives scrambling to determine what exactly counts as “Black representation.”

Is it:

A Black voter?

A majority-Black district?

A Black member of Congress?

A Black member of the Congressional Black Caucus?

A Black Democrat?

A Black Republican?

The answer, according to the Canton Cat:

“Depends entirely on which spreadsheet you’re trying to make scary.”

The Maryland Matters report focuses on fears that Republican-led redistricting after Callais could eliminate districts currently represented by Black Democrats and potentially cost the Congressional Black Caucus seats. The Supreme Court’s April ruling restricted the use of race in drawing districts, and Louisiana subsequently redrew a second majority-Black district that had been represented by Democrat Cleo Fields.

Meanwhile, Black Republicans continue existing, stubbornly refusing to evaporate for narrative convenience.

Rep. Wesley Hunt?

Still there.

Rep. Byron Donalds?

Also there.

Apparently nobody told them representation required the correct party registration.

One anonymous Washington consultant unveiled the official flowchart:

IS THE CANDIDATE BLACK?

Yes.

ARE THEY A DEMOCRAT?

Yes → Historic representation.

No → Please hold while we redefine the term.

The Canton Cat scratched the chart.

“Humans have somehow turned skin color into a congressional caucus membership category with footnotes.”

To be clear, majority-Black districts and racial vote dilution are real legal questions under voting-rights law. But describing the possible loss of particular Democratic-held districts as the disappearance of Black representation generally can blur several different concepts: descriptive representation, partisan representation, majority-minority districts and caucus membership.

That distinction is apparently too complicated for cable television.

At press time, Washington had created a bipartisan commission to determine whether a Black elected official remains Black after voting the wrong way.

The Canton Cat declined to participate.

“I identify politicians by whether they drop chicken near the dumpster. Much cleaner system.”