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Black House Caucus protests redistricting
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Florida House Black Caucus members took direct action on the House floor during last week’s special session. They say they’re done being ignored
BY ISSAC MORGAN, FLORIDA PHOENIX
HOUSE REPUBLICANS JAM THROUGH REDISTRICTING BILL THAT CUTS BLACK REPRESENTATION BY HALF
In an extraordinary display this week in the state House chamber, Black Democrats loudly chanted, wore T-shirts that read “Stop the Black Attack,” and staged a sit-in protest that shut down debate over African American representation in the redistricting process.
“When Black votes are under attack, we stand up and fight back,” the crowd of Black lawmakers yelled on the House floor.
For years now, that’s not always been the case in the GOP-controlled Legislature, where Black lawmakers and Democrats often get rolled over as Republican legislators approve their conservative agendas.
But this week, Black lawmakers demanded to be heard. They’d had enough. They’re now on the offensive. And they’re going to stay there.
A passionate group of Black Caucus members took action on the House floor Thursday, alarmed about a congressional map that cuts Black seats to only two in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional redistricting plan.
“Hello, Black Floridians at home today that’s watching this: The Florida House is about to cut your representation by 50 percent before lunch time,” state Rep. Travaris McCurdy, who represents part of Orange County, said during Thursday’s House session.
“We shouldn’t be here begging for representation in 2022,” he said. “I’ve had enough of being kicked around in this building, in this chamber and still being expected to smile and shake your hands and engage in conversation with the same people who are trying to oppress my people,” McCurdy said.
The protest had been previously planned by McCurdy and state Rep. Angela Nixon, McCurdy told the Florida Phoenix during an interview in the state Capitol. That came after the Florida Senate had cleared DeSantis’ congressional map and two bills that strip Disney from self-government powers and an exemption from last year’s law cracking down on social media.
Just Wednesday, state Sen. Bobby Powell had delivered emotional remarks in the Senate, expressing how he felt as a Black man and lawmaker in a Republican-led state Legislature that has oftentimes pushed initiatives through the legislative process that could threaten minority populations.
Powell, of Palm Beach County and a leader of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, told his colleagues, “I wake up, knowing in this process, that we have to continue to fight. And sometimes you get tired, right?
Those words seemed to be foreshadowing what would come on Thursday in the state House. (Powell told the Phoenix he was not aware of a House protest prior to Thursday.)
“Myself and Rep. Nixon, we kind of strategized together,” McCurdy told the Phoenix in the Capitol. “We knew that the Senate went home yesterday and it was up to us. This was the final shot.” McCurdy continued: “We knew we had a certain time allotted for us to debate on before the clock ran out. So we wanted to make sure our members got on record but we also knew that we’re going to disrupt this process that’s been disrupting so many lives across the state,” said, McCurdy, who was wearing one of the T-shirts while sitting in protest on the floor of the House. The spark of a protest started when Black lawmaker Yvonne Hinson was speaking. She had recalled her experience as a young Black activist who joined the fight for Black voting rights. “I’ve been kicked, I’ve been talked about, and I have been called names that you don’t even put in the dictionary anymore,” said Hinson, a Democrat representing parts of Alachua and Marion counties. She wanted to keep talking but her time was cut off under the House debate rules. That’s when Nixon, of Duval County, and McCurdy
REP. TRAVARIS stormed to the well of the chamber, and the proceedings were halted.
MCCURDY SAYS, “The demonstration was really for the people at home,” McCurdy told the
‘I’VE HAD ENOUGH Phoenix. “We have an election com-
OF BEING KICKED ing up in November and if this guy [DeSantis] gets re-elected, he’s already
AROUND IN THIS showing up now in his first term the type of dictatorship, the type of bulCHAMBER AND STILL lying that he’s seeking to do, and it’s intentional.”
BEING EXPECTED State Rep. Patricia Williams, of Broward County, told the Phoenix that
TO SMILE AND members of the Florida Legislative Black
SHAKE HANDS.’ Caucus were infuriated by Republicans attacking Black representation in the state, with the congressional map. “When Black voters are under attack, what do we do stand up and fight back,” she said. During a conversation in the state Capitol, state Rep. Michele Rayner told the Phoenix that “we sang, we sat on the floor, and the Republicans vacated the room.” A Democrat, she represents parts of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. When GOP lawmakers came back to the chamber, House Speaker Chris Sprowls appeared partly angry and partly astonished. Black lawmakers refused to stop loudly chanting and disrupting Sprowls, who continued to push through the congressional map legislation and the other two Disneyrelated bills. Republicans in the chamber applauded when they voted to say yes to those bills, though some Democrats booed. “They were clapping as democracy was dying,” said Rayner. After the House session ended, Black lawmakers held a news conference to discuss what happened and what comes next. State Rep. Ramon Alexander, representing Gadsden County and parts of Leon in the state capital, said, “We’re going to be revved up … and we’re going on offense and we’re going to stop playing on defense.” feedback@orlandoweekly.com
The Florida House, operating through a protest led by Black Caucus members, pushed through approval of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plan to redraw Florida’s congressional districts on Thursday.
After abandoning the chamber for a little more than an hour, Speaker Chris Sprowls and his fellow Republicans returned and called the vote on the DeSantis map, which eliminates Black “access” seats in North and Central Florida, cutting Black Democratic representation in half.
The vote was 68-38. The Senate had already approved the plan, which likely will govern this year’s midterm elections, although a lawsuit pending in federal court in Tallahassee asks three judges to design new districts.
Throughout the rushed votes, Reps. Travaris McCurdy of Orange County, Angie Nixon of Duval, and Felicia Robinson of Miami-Dade sat on the floor in the well of the chamber, right on top of the House seal woven into the carpet, and chanted slogans. Other Democrats joined in from their seats.
Yvette Hinson, who represents parts of Alachua and Marion counties, stood next to the three.
Having passed the bill, Sprowls adjourned the House, slamming down his gavel with a resounding whack. Shortly later, the lights in the chamber went out.
The result was a decisive win for DeSantis — who insisted that U.S. Supreme Court rulings disfavoring consideration of race in drawing political districts — if an ugly one. There was no immediate word from the governor’s office.
Sprowls issued a written statement: “Today a group of representatives decided to hijack the legislative process, violating House Rules and interfering with the rights of their fellow elected colleagues to debate important legislation before the body,” he said.
“We saw a group of Florida House members with microphones at their desk, a statewide audience, and an opportunity to vote on behalf of their constituents, and they instead chose to pretend they had to stage a protest to be heard.
“House Democrats requested and agreed to 75 minutes of debate time on congressional maps, and they used the entire time. They did not request any additional time prior to the group’s disruption.
Ellen Freidin, CEO of FairDistricts Now, which led the citizens’ initiative behind the amendments, issued a statement of her own.
“Under unthinkable pressure from the governor, the Legislature has passed what is probably the most intentionally partisan and racist congressional map in the history of Florida. It completely violates the Florida Constitution’s Fair Districts provisions. Apparently these Tallahassee politicians think that if they do not like the rules, they can simply ignore them,” Freiden said. “This is not the way a democracy should operate. Shame on those who drafted, submitted and voted for the map. We have great trust and hope that the courts will not allow this intentional discrimination to stand and will apply the FairDistricts standards as 63 percent of Floridians intended them to.”
Before the protest broke out, Democrats compared the DeSantis plan to Jim Crow–era laws limiting Black voting rights. Republicans called it a reasonable response to constitutional questions about race’s role in drawing political boundaries.
The new map creates 20 districts likely to vote Republican and eight for Democrats. It splits Blacks in Duval along the St. Johns River into two GOP-leaning districts and eliminates a Black “opportunity” district in Orange County. (In opportunity districts a minority group wields enough strength to heavily influence the outcome.) Congresswoman Val Demings represents that area now. — Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix
