Gov. Ron DeSantis’s proposed Florida congressional map has been labeled racist as it eliminates majority-black districts in the state.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported:
“Florida elected officials are in a special session to turn the clock back to the days of Jim Crowism, in the spirit of Trumpism….and yield to the governor’s racist map and to ban two Black seats from Congress,” said Rep. R.B. Holmes, Jr., of Tallahassee. “This is wrong. This is wicked and a political ploy.”
Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park, told the gathering of dozens of demonstrators that Black voters would use redistricting as a rallying point for this fall’s elections.
“Here’s what our message is, ‘We will not stand down,’” Jones said. “You want to call us ‘woke’? We’re more woke than we’ve ever been. As a matter of fact Gov. DeSantis, we’re so woke that you only see a few of us back here. But there’s many of us when we get back home.”
DeSantis’s map would redraw the Florida congressional delegation from 16 Republican seats and 11 Democratic seats to 20 Republican seats and 8 Democratic seats. (Florida gained one House seat in the 2020 Census).
The map will end up in court. The courts are likely to overturn it, but the map is being passed so close to the Florida primary that the new map will be used in June. It would take expeditated emergency action by the courts to prevent this map from being used.
The Florida map is a Jim Crow move that is designed to dilute and weaken the power of minority voters. It is clear racism. There is no population or geographic logic behind the DeSantis map.
The situation in Florida is a direct result of the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act.
For the two Senate Democrats who are refusing to change the filibuster to protect voting rights, Florida is proof of the consequences of inaction.
Black voters in Florida are using DeSantis’s map as motivation to fight even harder in November.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
