Pastor Robert Spooney recently addressed his concerns over the new congressional map. The pastor of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church was one of the attendees of a protest on Friday, April 22.
Protest to Protect Voter's Rights
In a report with WESH, church and community leaders attended the press conference. They discussed Governor Ron DeSantis' new congressional maps.
The leaders raised their concerns, saying that the move would affect the voting rights of minority groups.
The local members of the Legislative Black Caucus and church leaders urged a call to action. They worked together to try and protect minority voter representation in Congress.
According to the report, the attendees filed a lawsuit against the governor and Republicans over the new congressional maps.
Black Voters Matter, Equal Ground, and the League of Women Voters filed the lawsuit. They said the congressional maps are unconstitutional.
Unconstitutional Congressional Maps
The clergy who attended the news conference said that more than 600 churches in the Florida General Baptist Convention condemned the new maps.
Spooney called the maps a "devious plan." He added that it was nothing more than a strategy to "weaken the voice of black Americans in the state of Florida."
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus added that it was a slap in the face of democracy. They stressed that they were not going to stand by and take it.
Members of the Legislative Black Caucus, Democrats, and clergy want to raise voter awareness about the new congressional maps. These congressional maps were approved along party lines.
They were led by the state house and senate republicans during the special session earlier in the week.
The session led to a protest and sit-in that lasted more than an hour. Republicans tried to prevent one African-American lawmaker from finishing her statement. She opposed the maps drawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Stop Playing Defense
Jacksonville Rep. Angie Nixon and Orlando State Rep. Travaris McCurdy led the protests.
As explained, Districts 10 and 5 would see a reduction in African-American voters. Doing so would cut the chances of minority representation in Congress.
McCurdy called the move an "attack on Black people." The state representative added that it was also an attack on democracy, and they needed to stop playing defense.
McCurdy urged fellow attendees that they needed to get on offense.
"We've got to shed light on what they are doing in the dark, and that's what yesterday was the first attempt to do," he said.
Democrats promised they would work harder to increase minority voter registration. They added that they would do so now, at the August primary and November general elections.
Fair Districts Now and Common Cause sued the governor and Republican leaders. They did so before the new maps were approved.
One federal judge ordered the secretary of state to provide the legislature's new maps. Governor DeSantis will have to sign the new redistricting bill between now and then.
In a report with NBC News, several lawmakers have challenged the governor's congressional maps.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder maintained that DeSantis bullied the "legislature into enacting a map that does not allow for a fair electoral contest."
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