Lemon LIVE at 5 | Redistricting & Democracy: What’s Happening to Voting Rights?!

Don Lemon and Tiffany Cross argue that current redistricting efforts in states like Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama are not merely political maneuvers but a continuation of Jim Crow-era tactics aimed at disenfranchising Black voters and reducing their citizenship.

This redistricting is crazy. Virginia now is at it. We saw what happened with Tennessee. Alabama is up next. Florida is going to I mean, look, it's just going on and on and on and on. One reason we say racism is back, meaning in the open. Perhaps we should change it to Jim Crow so people can understand. ... Tennessee is the first to pass the new congressional district since Cala. But more southern states are for sure going to follow. Republicans in Louisiana, Alabama, South Carolina, um they've also been taking steps towards redistricting and the whole point is to reduce our citizenship.

Tiffany Cross criticizes mainstream newsrooms for presenting generalized job numbers that mask the severe and disproportionate economic struggles faced by specific demographics, particularly Black women, who have experienced the steepest job losses.

I was quite outraged this morning when I heard uh economists and commentators talk about, oh, the job numbers uh report is better this week and it just blatantly is not. You know, we know that there are close to 400,000 black women who are still out of work. Um and that doesn't even count the number of black women who uh never return to the workforce after COVID. Uh moreover, federal job cuts um hit black women harder and a year later the unemployment rate is up. Uh black women have suffered the steepest job loss in this environment...

The hosts discuss how some white conservatives, exemplified by David French, express shock and surprise when confronted with overt racism, particularly when it impacts their own families, despite Black communities having long understood and experienced these realities. This "feigned surprise" is seen as offensive and indicative of a lack of intellectual curiosity.

He was surprised when um when at the comments that they got from schools when they I think when he took sent his kid to school, but also there was an encounter where someone called his daughter the n-word and he was surprised. Um and people are saying, 'Wait a minute. You're just realizing that racism exists.' ... Beyond being naive, his comment wasn't naive. It was offensive. Um and I think that is the danger, you know, that is the danger with somebody like that. My immediate thought went to deep empathy and concern for the black woman um that he or the black girl I should say that he is attempting to raise.

Tiffany Cross advocates for Black women to prioritize building "shelter" and strong community bonds for self-preservation and collective strength, rather than expending energy on educating those who are unwilling to understand or to "save the country" after others have allowed its degradation.

We have a right to stand still and build shelter for ourselves because right now it feels like we're in the eye of the storm looking at this destruction all around us and there's very little we can do. ... My simple answer is build shelter for yourself. Figure out what happens because even on a global scale, things are shifting quickly. ... I maintain my peace and keep the faith in the company of other black women. Uh, I feel the safest there.