Black Democrats Will Use "Every Means At Their Disposal" To Fight DeSantis's Congressional Map

By Johania Charles, Miami Times Staff Writer

Apr 18, 2022

Amid a special session for a Republican-led Florida Legislature to consider a congressional map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis within four days, various advocacy groups gathered on the Capitol’s steps Tuesday to protest what’s being called an attempt to dilute Black districts.

Black Democrats are not standing down, joining groups like Faith in Florida, the NAACP and the Divine Nine in calling out the controversial move on DeSantis’ part, vowing to use every means at their disposal to ensure representation and protection of voting rights. Tools like the checks and balances system through the courts, voter education, phone banking, rallies and GOTV efforts will be used.

“The Black community will not allow the governor to hijack this process on our backs,” declared District 35 Sen. Shevrin Jones, the only Black state senator representing Miami-Dade County, at a press conference Monday.

In a statement, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz said the proposal for Florida’s now 28 congressional districts would be instantly challenged if adopted. Should legal battles ensue, they would go up before the state’s supreme court.

Jones, flanked by lawyers, local elected officials and activists, had one message for the governor: “You lose.”

He is sure DeSantis will be defeated at the ballot box later this year and in courtrooms should the latter persist in interfering in redistricting efforts.

“We will make sure that this message resounds across the state of Florida, that [in] November – and this is a threat – we will ensure that you’re no longer the governor of Florida,” said Jones. “Because when you come for one of us, you come for all of us, and we will not allow you to dilute our districts with representation for your own political game.”

Likening DeSantis to the nefarious pharaoh mentioned in the biblical story of Moses, South Florida leaders are demanding the governor release the people from his “racist tactics,” followed by pleas to “Let My People Vote.”

“The pharaoh of Florida couldn’t do anything about the maps at the state level but he exercised this unusual veto power …” said Rep. Dotie Joseph, who wants to see racial, ethnic and linguistic representation reflected in district lines. “The Legislature has its job and the executive branch has its job … The problem is, we in Florida are governed by a GOP that has decided to just throw up its hands and give into the bullying.”

The map in question, submitted by the governor’s general counsel last Wednesday, adds four additional seats for the Republican party and eliminates two Black districts, held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Al Lawson and Val Demings.

“We are not going to have a 20-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based on the color of their skin,” said DeSantis at a bill-signing event last week, calling for a race-neutral map. “That is wrong.”

Legislatures passed the redistricting responsibility to DeSantis last week when House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson announced that legislative staff would not draw new maps.

Both sides question whether the other party upholds the state’s Fair Districts amendments, with Democrats making gerrymandering claims for the new map while DeSantis points to a racial one in the vetoed map that he said conflicts with the 14th Amendment.

“Somehow in 30 years, he feels we’re of equal footing,” said Dwight Bullard, former senator and senior political advisor for Florida Rising, about representation in Congress. “Out of 28 congressional districts, five are represented by Black people … Last time I checked, 23 to five does not seem fair nor balanced, nor equal or just.”

Activists say the map is the last straw, recalling a slew of earlier legislation proposed by the governor that many Black communities opposed.

“I don’t know how many acts of racism one has to do to become a racist,” Bullard said at Monday’s press conference. “But let’s just say that if this was a video game, [DeSantis] would be going for the highest score. … He’s giving you the receipts.”

He made note of the Stop WOKE Act to ban critical race theory, the controversial HB 1 protest bill and election bill SB 90, and the legal action that followed.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker struck down SB 90 provisions challenged in a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters of Florida weeks ago.

“This Court recognizes that the right to vote, and the VRA (Voting Rights Act) particularly, are under siege,” wrote Walker, who pointed out subtle GOP voter suppression tactics and subjected Florida to clear voting law and regulation changes with his court for the next decade.

“In the past election, our already marginalized communities exercised their right to vote in mass numbers. And this veto is just an example of our governor not liking them coming out in mass numbers,” said Miami Gardens Rep. Felicia Robinson, who called the press conference with Jones.

Confirming that the NAACP has already filed a lawsuit against the governor on the matter, Jones said he is willing to join lawsuits filed by any organization for the cause.

DeSantis welcomes the challenges and stands behind his belief that his “race-neutral” map will prevail.

The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.