Redistricting hearing turns tense in US Rep. Bennie Thompson’s backyard
By Michael Goldberg | Originally published by Mississippi Today
CLEVELAND – Most Mississippi residents who spoke on Tuesday at the first public hearing on redistricting in the Delta criticized what they saw as a Republican push for power at the expense of Black representation, while some others said they support swift action to redraw electoral maps.
Tuesday’s hearing was the third in a slate of public hearings intended for Mississippians to share their views on redistricting with a Republican-dominated joint House and Senate committee. It was the first hearing in the majority-Black district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson.
Thompson is the state’s only Black member of Congress and only Democrat. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case in May, which weakened the Voting Rights Act, Thompson has been the target of calls from Republican Gov. Tate Reeves and some Republican state legislators and other leaders to redraw Mississippi’s electoral maps.
Thompson did not appear to be in attendance on Tuesday evening in an auditorium at Delta State University in Cleveland, but several Democratic state lawmakers who represent the Delta but were not chosen to serve on the joint committee spoke at the hearing. The Democratic officials said partisan redistricting would split areas with shared cultural and economic interests, and cause “mass confusion” for voters
Democratic Rep. Willie Bailey of Greenville, who is not on the joint committee, told audience members that the committee had already made up its mind, and that the hearings would not stop the Republican dominated and majority-white Legislature from dismantling majority-Black districts.
“I’m glad to see all of you, but nothing you say tonight will become part of any plan. Nothing,” Bailey said. “There is no time for all the foolishness that we’re doing tonight. Now, they’re up here listening to you, but that’s as far as it’s going. It’s going no further than this room.”
The Callais decision removed protection for majority minority districts and cleared the way for Republican-controlled state legislatures to redraw political lines in their favor.
Michael Carr, an attorney who has previously run for Bolivar County district attorney as a Democrat, said the Callais decision does not create mandatory redistricting for any state other than Louisiana, and that Republicans are falsely making it seem as though Mississippi has to redraw its lines.
“You’ve got the governor, you’ve got the House, you’ve got the Senate, you’ve got three out of four congressional districts. What else do you want?” Carr said. “What they’re doing with suggesting redrawing these lines is diluting our voice, disproportionately taking our power away.”
Republican leaders believe that when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Callais decision, it ended the practice of allowing race to be considered in drawing political maps.
Susan Spiller, president of the Leflore County Republican Women, said lawmakers are right to redraw lines drawn before Callais, because considering race in drawing electoral maps harkens back to a Mississippi that no longer exists.
“I’m asking this committee to redraw Mississippi’s districts based on traditional, race-neutral criteria,” Spiller said. “It is not 1965. It is 2026. It’s time for one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all of us.”
The legislative joint committee is holding public hearings across the state, and the full Legislature is expected to convene in a special session this fall to redraw at least state legislative maps. That wouldn’t impact this November’s federal election, but Mississippi lawmakers are likely to target Thompson’s seat with redistricting before he’s up for reelection again in 2028.
Resident Nathan Duff said no elected official should take the Delta for granted, as the region faces unique challenges that require adequate representation.
“The Delta is not simply another region in Mississippi. Our economy is different, our history different, our population trends are different,” Duff said. “The challenges confronting hospitals, schools, municipalities and agricultural communities are different than the rest of Mississippi.”
Effie Burt said Republicans are engaged in a power grab aimed at diluting Black political power.
“What you’re doing is wrong, unnecessary, biased and is racist,” Burt said. “You’re trying to take away our voting strength that was achieved decades ago.”
Burt then broke out into song, singing “We Shall Overcome,” a gospel song associated with the Civil Rights Movement.
Tuesday’s hearing came days after a hearing in Southaven where speakers skewed much more toward supporting efforts to redistrict in Republicans’ favor. DeSoto County has been the venue of an ongoing legal battle over redistricting and debate over race and representation.
Rep. Rodney Hall represents Southaven and is the first Black Republican to serve in the Mississippi House since Reconstruction. Hall, who serves on the joint committee, told Mississippi Today after the hearing that the public’s participation in the redistricting process matters to lawmakers and would influence the outcome.
“Emotions are understandably high because Mississippi has a history we cannot, and should not, ignore. But our future does not have to be bound by our past. The Mississippi of today is not returning to poll taxes, at-large legislative districts, or the tactics of another era,” Hall said. “This is our opportunity to face our history honestly, learn from it, and move forward together with fair, race-neutral maps that reflect our highest American ideals: equal citizenship, equal opportunity, and a government accountable to every voter.”
The committee is encouraging the public to participate in future hearings. The public can offer comments at any of the seven remaining public hearings, or submit written comments to Ted Booth, the committee’s attorney, at ted.booth@peer.ms.gov.
Below is the schedule of the future planned redistricting hearings. Each will start at 6 p.m.
- Sept. 8 at Alcorn State University in Natchez.
- Sept.10 at Meridian Community College in Meridian.
- Sept. 17 at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
- Sept. 22 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College in Gulfport.
- Oct. 1 at the state Capitol in Jackson.
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
