ACTION ALERT - REDISTRICTING

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED

“The State House of Representatives took the unprecedented step yesterday of cancelling a scheduled hearing of the Redistricting Committee and then during the day notifying the public that a meeting of the House Redistricting Committee would take place.  It then unveiled yet another Congressional Redistricting Map that appears to further dilute the voting strength of Black and other minority voters in Texas.  It carries over the packing and cracking of Black communities from C2308 and adds further dilution to ensure the continuation of white voter dominance in Texas.  This new bill is C2333.  This new map will allow white residents, who are 40% of the Texas population, to dictate the outcome of the election in over 80% of our 38 Congressional Districts even though Blacks, Browns, Asians and other minorities comprise about 60% of our population.  To make matters worse, when Texas was awarded 2 new Congressional Seats in 2021 because of its growth the previous decade, the Legislature and Governor awarded those to white communities—one democratic and one republican.  This of course shows that the 2021 redistricting was about race and not party. 

In the 2025 cycle of redistricting, the new maps initially targeted and continue to target Black and Brown districts.  The Trump Department of Justice, using a faulty legal analysis, specifically targeted 4 districts that were controlled by Black and/or Brown voters.  The letter targeted Black districts that were not coalition districts—9, 18 and 33, and they targeted Congressional District 29 which was a Latino opportunity seat.  The proposed maps eliminate 9 and 33 as Black opportunity districts and 29 as a Latino opportunity district.  The maps pack the 18th and 30th Congressional districts with Black and Brown voters so they cannot continue to exercise voting influence in other districts, and it changes the 29 Congressional District from a Latino opportunity district into a coalition district Trump’s DOJ said was illegal.  As a bonus the maps change Congressional District 35 in Austin from a Latino opportunity district to one likely to oppose the Latino candidate of choice.

As we move on with this special session, we believe it is important for you to call House Republicans to let them know your feelings about how these bills are racist and you would hope they would not support a racist bill.  Tell them that our nation is stronger when everyone has meaningful representation and how democracy is undermined by what they are doing.  Remind them about how former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes marvelled about the marketplace of ideas and how that set democracies apart from others and made us better and stronger.  This effort is intended to silence opposing voices and almost completely deny them to Black Americans.  Tell them that you hope they will not vote for a bill that is clearly racist.  The comment that this is about party or partisanship is simply a smoke screen for continuing to discriminate against Black and Brown Texans.

We have a list of Republican Members who we hope will at least listen to you.  Please talk to them or the members of their staff, take notes and then let us know at lkerrnaacp@gmail.com of the results of your communications.  We need as many people to call as possible.  This is one of the most important times we can do with our valued time."

Sincerely,
Gary L. Bledsoe, Texas NAACP President