Texas NAACP stands in solidarity with the Hon. Nicole Collier
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hon. Nicole Collier, D-Fort Worth, who now has essentially been detained and held involuntarily on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives for refusing to sign a “permission slip” –mandated by the GOP requiring Department of Public Safety escorts for Democrats who broke quorum over redistricting. She voluntarily went to the Capitol today, has committed no crime, and was there to represent her constituents after others had established the quorum. The quorum was made, so her constitutional action in representing her district cannot now provide the basis for her detention.
We now see just how far Texas GOP leaders are willing to go to push African Americans back toward a time when we were denied full personhood and equal rights. A proposed new redistricting map effectively reduces our communities to something less than
whole, echoing the shameful era when African Americans in Texas and across the South were counted as only three-fifths of a person. We also remember the Black Codes—laws deliberately designed to police and subjugate our people.
In addition to releasing a redistricting map that effectively reduces our status to three-fifths of a person for counting us in the population and determining our elective representatives, we see our leaders being detained because they refuse to bow to extremist and disrespectful demands.
Breaking quorum was within her constitutional rights. Like most other Democrats, Collier returned voluntarily to Texas House on Monday so the actions to compel her to sign something that would require law enforcement to escort her out of the chamber –
the People’s House – were extreme, unnecessary and reminiscent of Texas’ Jim Crow past. The legality of this requirement of surrendering your privacy is questionable, so that may be the reason why they are asking legislators to sign this.
We call on Texans of every background to recognize the dangers of this moment. Our democracy depends on ensuring that every person is counted fully, valued equally, and represented fairly. We are prepared to fight this injustice at every level—because our future, and the future of our children, depends on it.
