George Floyd 6 Years Later. Redistricting War i The South. Talarico Senate Campaign
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Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Congressman Glenn Ivy is reintroducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to keep police accountability on the national agenda, despite Republican control of Congress.
- ❖The Department of Justice is criticized for withholding evidence in police shooting cases in Minnesota, hindering state-level prosecutions.
- ❖Southern states are engaged in widespread racial gerrymandering, with the Supreme Court's decisions (like *Ka*) enabling the dilution of Black voting power.
- ❖Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is facing backlash from Black Democrats in Florida for running in a historically Black district after her own was eliminated.
- ❖The NAACP's 'Out-of-Bounds' campaign targets public universities in eight Southern states, urging Black athletes to choose schools elsewhere as a form of economic protest.
- ❖Historical examples, such as the Mississippi flag change and the Polaroid Revolutionary Workers Movement, demonstrate the power of collective economic action and youth activism.
- ❖Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Jim Clyburn vow to fight against gerrymandering, emphasizing the importance of not voluntarily conceding seats.
- ❖Concerns are raised about low voter turnout among 18-39 year-olds, despite this demographic being the largest, underscoring a critical need for engagement.
Insights
1Reintroducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
Congressman Glenn Ivy is reintroducing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to maintain pressure on police accountability, despite the current Republican control of both the House and Senate. The act previously passed the House when Democrats held the majority but died in the Senate. Ivy emphasizes that the issues leading to Floyd's death persist and points to ongoing excessive force cases by ICE and Border Patrol, which he believes should resonate with a broader American public.
Congressman Glenn Ivy discusses reintroducing the bill, its previous passage in the House, and its failure in the Senate. He mentions ICE and Border Patrol excessive force cases as broader issues the bill addresses.
2Systematic Racial Gerrymandering in the South
Across Southern states like Alabama, Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina, Republican-led efforts are actively redrawing congressional maps to dilute Black voting power. This strategy, enabled by recent Supreme Court decisions, aims to reduce the number of Black-majority or Black-access districts, thereby diminishing Black representation and the flow of federal resources to these communities. Congressmen Emanuel Cleaver and Jim Clyburn are directly impacted and vow to fight these changes.
Roland Martin details Alabama's court battle over maps (), Florida's CD20 controversy (), Congressman Cleaver's gerrymandered seat in Missouri (), and Congressman Clyburn's fight in South Carolina ().
3NAACP's 'Out-of-Bounds' Campaign and Economic Activism
The NAACP launched the 'Out-of-Bounds' campaign, urging Black athletes to boycott public universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. This initiative aims to leverage the economic power of Black athletes and fans to pressure states to reverse anti-Black policies, drawing parallels to historical civil rights boycotts and youth activism. The campaign encourages athletes to consider HBCUs or universities in other states and calls on fans to redirect their financial support.
Roland Martin explains the NAACP's call to action () and lists the targeted states (). Michael Mhamteep emphasizes that the press release encourages HBCU attendance and broader economic withdrawal ().
4Supreme Court's Role in Dismantling Voting Rights
The Supreme Court is heavily criticized for decisions like *Citizens United*, *Shelby County v. Holder*, and *Ka*, which are seen as systematically eroding voting rights protections and enabling racial gerrymandering. Congressman Jim Clyburn likens these decisions to *Dred Scott*, arguing they dilute individual voting power and disproportionately harm Black communities, leading to a 'Jim Crow 2.0' era.
Congressman Clyburn discusses *Citizens United* (), *Shelby v. Holder* (), and the subsequent weakening of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act ().
5The Imperative of Youth Voter Turnout
Despite millennials and Gen Z being the largest demographic, their voter turnout (e.g., 9% of total turnout for 18-39 year-olds in the Georgia primary) remains significantly lower than older generations. Host Roland Martin and Congressman Emanuel Cleaver stress that this demographic must increase their engagement beyond social media to effectively counter anti-Black political agendas and elect representatives who reflect their interests, drawing on the historical precedent of young people driving civil rights movements.
Roland Martin highlights Georgia exit poll data on youth turnout () and discusses the need for 18-39 year-olds to step up (). Congressman Cleaver's children advise him on changing his online presence for younger voters ().
Bottom Line
The political strategy of 'pitting white Democrats against black Democrats' through gerrymandering is a deliberate tactic by Republicans to weaken the Democratic party's overall strength and further dilute Black political influence.
This tactic creates internal divisions within the Democratic party, diverting resources and attention from broader electoral battles to intra-party conflicts over representation, ultimately benefiting the Republican agenda.
Democrats need a unified strategy to counter this, potentially by proactively supporting Black candidates in other districts or by white incumbents making strategic decisions to avoid such conflicts, prioritizing collective party strength over individual seats in certain contexts.
The argument that 'securing the bag' (prioritizing individual financial gain) among Black youth undermines collective civil rights struggles, contrasting with historical youth activism that prioritized movement over personal gain.
This mindset shift could weaken the potential for large-scale economic and political movements, as individual economic incentives might outweigh the perceived benefits of collective action, making it harder to mobilize for civil rights.
Advocacy groups and leaders need to effectively communicate the long-term collective benefits of sacrifice and solidarity, demonstrating how individual 'bags' are ultimately less secure without broader systemic change and linking economic power to political leverage.
Key Concepts
Economic Withdrawal/Boycott
The strategic use of consumer and athlete spending power to exert pressure on institutions and states to change discriminatory policies. This model posits that economic impact can force political actors to address issues they otherwise ignore, as seen historically with civil rights boycotts and the Mississippi flag change.
Judicial Activism (Critique)
The host and guests argue that the Supreme Court is engaging in judicial activism by making rulings that align with a political agenda (specifically Republican and anti-Black interests), rather than strictly interpreting the law or adhering to precedent, thereby systematically dismantling voting rights protections.
Performative Allyship
A critique leveled against political figures (like Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz) who claim to support certain communities but whose actions (e.g., running in a historically Black district without prior consultation) are perceived as self-serving and lacking genuine engagement or respect for the community's needs.
Lessons
- Engage with and support Black-owned media platforms like the Black Star Network to ensure that Black stories and perspectives are told and amplified.
- Participate actively in local and national elections, especially for younger voters (18-39), as their collective turnout is crucial to counter anti-Black political agendas and gerrymandering.
- Consider supporting and participating in economic withdrawal campaigns, such as the NAACP's 'Out-of-Bounds' initiative, to leverage consumer and athletic influence against discriminatory state policies.
Notable Moments
Discussion of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz running in Florida's 20th Congressional District, a historically Black district, after her own was eliminated due to gerrymandering.
This highlights the direct impact of gerrymandering on political careers and raises questions about 'performative allyship' when a white politician runs in a district designated for Black representation, causing significant backlash from the Black community.
Roland Martin recounts the story of a Mississippi State football player whose refusal to play under the Confederate flag led to the flag's change in 10 days.
This anecdote powerfully illustrates the potential for individual and collective action, particularly by athletes, to force political change even when decades of traditional advocacy have failed, emphasizing the economic leverage of sports.
Quotes
"You can't be black-owned media and be scared. It's time to be smart. Bring your eyeballs home, you dig?"
"If the black vote doesn't matter, if black political power is irrelevant, why are these people working so hard to break up black districts? Why are they working so hard to reduce the power of the black vote?"
"What I think people are losing in this whole argument is that many of the players that NAACP is talking about are also being recruited by USC, UCLA, Big 10 schools, other schools across the country. So, they're not saying don't play, they're saying don't play for these particular schools."
"We've reduced the fight for civil rights and voting rights and equal protection to what a handful of black people can earn. That tells me all I need to know about where this generation stands when it comes to fighting on behalf of black people."
"I think that justice Roberts, history will treat him the same way it's treating Roger Tanner who was the chief justice of Supreme Court that issued the opinion in Dres Scott."
"Our minimum number has to be 70% of eligible black voters. We have to have that type of massive turnout to beat back this anti-black agenda and Republicans represent on the state on on the state level as well as on the national level."
"Our children and our grandchildren are going to find themselves living the same existence that our parents and grandparents lived. And if you think that's not possible, why is there 95 years between number eight in South Carolina and yours through the number nine? Because Supreme Court was not fooling around and we were not allowed to participate back then."
Q&A
Recent Questions
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