CBC Begs Black Voters After New Ruling

追加: 2026-05-08

[00:00:00]that we can represent a district that is not majority black.

[00:00:03]>> Absolutely. So, let's not have a binary conversation about only black people can represent black seats because when we do represent a district, the entirety of the district rises. This is a larger issue. This is a larger issue about snatching democracy from the hands of voters across this country and continuing to demoralize and marginalize the black vote. So, this is a call to action. If you are black, if you love anything that is black, you need to be working to get everybody registered to vote because your votes on the line next.

[00:00:37]>> Might have to drop a dime on this.

[00:00:39]>> For sure.

[00:00:41]>> You know what I'm saying?

[00:00:42]>> Got to stop.

[00:00:43]>> I don't like that [ __ ] >> For sure, bro.

[00:00:47]>> I don't like that [ __ ] All right, y'all know how we do. Always the self. So, check this out.

[00:01:12]The Congressional Black Caucus just had a a little conference. I ain't hear the word reparation one time. I mean, one time through this whole 34 minutes. I just wasted 34 minutes. Make sure y'all bless the cash app, man. Y'all hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button.

[00:01:29]Push me on the algorithm. I greatly appreciate that. I'm going to go over y'all some points. They said, y'all s y'all hear what they said to act. The first thing they pushing is for voters instead of reparations. I'mma go over some clips that they got this same tetherism talk. We going to go over that. Check it out. This is not the court that expanded freedom and moved this nation closer to its ideals. This is a court that is turning back its back on that legacy and on the people it is supposed to serve.

[00:02:06]But we're not powerless and we're not backing down. The Congressional Black Caucus is prepared to take any measure necessary to protect black voters in this country. We are demanding an immediate vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and we will not accept delay, obstruction, or excuses.

[00:02:29]WE WILL and we will go further. We will fight for Supreme Court reform. We will pursue term limits for justices. and we will do what it takes to restore integrity, accountability, and trust because no institution is above the people it serves. So, let me be clear. This fight is not just about black America. It is about the future of American democracy itself.

[00:03:06]>> Got to always include us with everybody else.

[00:03:10]I just said that on one of my other videos. something just can't be about us.

[00:03:16]>> So to anyone who thinks that we will be discouraged, to anyone who believes that we will be silenced, to anyone who hopes we will sit this moment out, you are mistaken, we will organize, we will mobilize, and we will fight. When November comes, as we show up in numbers too big to ignore and too powerful to suppress, we're not going back. We will not be moved. And we will not stop until this democracy works for all of us.

[00:03:53]We're not going back. Having said that, it is my honor to now bring to the podium Representative Troy Carter of Louisiana. John Robert Voting Rights Act is the measure that will get us back onto a level playing field where all Americans are treated equally. Thank you for being here.

[00:04:16]We now bring to the podium Congresswoman uh Congresswoman Soul of Alabama.

[00:04:24]What she paid for her degree at family.

[00:04:26]This ain't this ain't how she got up there. It just seems like they delusional.

[00:04:33]And listen to how they trying to get a new face, new flavor. They just had to have one of them resign.

[00:04:42]Sheila Murphilus non-American woman. So check this out.

[00:04:51]>> Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm Congresswoman Su. I represent Alabama's seventh congressional district. We finally call ourselves Alabama's civil rights district, which includes the historic cities of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and my hometown of Selma, Alabama. Today, the far-right Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to our democracy and to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

[00:05:15]It will pave the way for the greatest reduction in representation for black and minority voters since the years following reconstruction.

[00:05:25]WHAT THE COURT did today makes it easier for bad state actors to silence the voices of black voters and harder to challenge the discrimination in court.

[00:05:37]The court just gave states permission to use partisan germandering as a wholesale excuse to deny black and minority voters a voice in our democracy. I'm going to repeat that.

[00:05:53]The court just gave license to states to use partisan germandering as an excuse to discriminate against the voices of the minority in government. We should not mince words. This is the height of of hypocrisy from the court. They just prioritize partisan politics over the sacred principle of fair representation.

[00:06:18]And the decision will have farreaching consequences. It will not only suppress minority votes in the halls of Congress, but it will erode minority representation in state houses, city councils, and even school boards across this nation. With this decision, the extremists on the Supreme Court have completed their decadesl long crusade to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

[00:06:45]They willingly dismissed generations of legal precedent of congressional intent and the will of the American people. In doing so, they have given a green light to Donald Trump's partisan voter suppression scheme. Instead of responding to the will of the people and changing course, Trump and Republicans are trying to erode our democracy and suppress the vote to escape accountability at the ballot box.

[00:07:14]They're looking to steal the election.

[00:07:18]>> And we in the Congressional Black Caucus say no.

[00:07:21]>> WE SAY HELL NO.

[00:07:22]>> HELL NO.

[00:07:23]>> NOT without a fight.

[00:07:25]>> I am a daughter of Selma, Alabama, and I grew up in the shadow of the civil rights movement. The foot soldiers who marched across that bridge were my neighbors, my church members, my parishioners, and my babysitters. I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT THE PROGRESS SECURED BY THOSE foot soldiers is being erased before our very eyes. And we say no.

[00:07:50]>> We say hell no.

[00:07:52]>> Not on our watch. We cannot stand by while extremists try to silence the voices of black and minority voters. WE HAVE AN URGENT OBLIGATION to act. Now more than ever, WE NEED COMMUNITIES ACROSS THIS nation to mobilize in state legislatores, in the courts, and at the ballot box. We need to vote like we've never voted before. Here in Congress, we are fighting back. This week, we launched a series of nationwide convenings led by the Southern Poverty Law Center and the House administration to HEAR FROM VOTERS ACROSS THIS NATION about the attacks on voting rights and the modern-day barriers to the BALLOT BOX. THEIR TESTIMONY will help us and inform us in our legislative duties TO REVISE and pass the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act with a goal of fully restoring the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is the bloodline of our democracy.

[00:08:51]And in the spirit of John Lewis, we will continue to get into some good trouble.

[00:08:56]That's right. until this democracy lives up to its creed of equality and justice for all.

[00:09:04]And with that, we bring our leader, the leader of the Democratic, sorry, sorry.

[00:09:10]>> With that, we bring the leader, uh, Cleopus Bills from Louisiana, who directly is impacted by this Cala case.

[00:09:21]Chairwoman Beck Clark and all of the distinguished members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Today's decision by this illegitimate Supreme Court majority strikes a blow against the Voting Rights Act and is designed to undermine the ability of communities of color all across this country to elect their candidate of choice. But we're not here to step back. We're here to fight back.

[00:09:48]Now, when this decision came out earlier today, it's an unacceptable decision, but not an unexpected decision because this isn't even really the Robert's court.

[00:10:04]>> It's the Trump court.

[00:10:05]>> Yes. And what we would expect from the Trump court is an effort to continue their scheme to suppress the vote and rig the midterm elections and beyond because these extremists have failed America in every possible way. They failed on the economy. They failed on healthcare. They're failing as it relates to this reckless and costly world choice. The extremists have completely and totally failed America.

[00:10:37]>> So they've concluded aided and abetted by the Trump court that they have to cheat to win.

[00:10:44]But the reality of our experience, our journey now more than 400 years is that we view a setback and this is one, but we view setbacks as nothing more than a setup for a comeback.

[00:10:57]>> That's right. And America has the great opportunity to keep the comeback going by exercising your right to vote in November and making it clear that it's not Donald Trump or his Supreme Court majority that should be the ones to decide who gets to represent you in Congress. It's the American people.

[00:11:24]Now, they've tried to do everything they can, particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 election.

[00:11:34]They've tried to do everything that they can to eliminate and erase our journey, our struggle, our march in this country toward a more perfect union.

[00:11:47]And now we're at a point where affirmative action is gone, diversity is gone, equity gone, inclusion gone, racial tolerance gone, the Voting Rights Act largely gone, but guess what extremists, we're still here. That's right.

[00:12:05]>> And we're not going anywhere.

[00:12:08]>> And we believe in this country.

[00:12:09]>> That's right. not a perfect country, but we recognize that what we've been given is a march toward a more perfect union.

[00:12:18]And at this moment in time, we're urging everyone to summon the courage, the character, and the conviction of those heroes like John Lewis and Rosa Parks >> and so many others upon whose shoulders we stand. They had to fight through moments of turbulence, trials, and tribulations, but every single time they fought through those moments and were able to usher in a new era of progress.

[00:12:43]>> That's right.

[00:12:44]>> And that's what this moment represents right now. It's turbulent.

[00:12:50]It's chaotic. It's extreme.

[00:12:52]But all of us are going to summon that courage, that character, that conviction and show up and stand up and speak up for what we know is right to get this situation turned around. We will not let their scheme to rig the midterm election and beyond be successful.

[00:13:09]And when we take back the majority in the aftermath of the November 2026 election, when? One of our first acts is going to be to make sure we pass the John Robert Lewis Voting Rights Enforcement Act so we can end the era of voter suppression in America once and for all.

[00:13:32]>> Thank you so much, Mr. Lee. Let me thank all of my colleagues standing here shouldertosh shoulder. more would have been here had this not uh had we not just he heard this decision. But I want to open up now for any questions from the press.

[00:13:47]>> Yes. Could you state your name in your outlet?

[00:13:50]>> Uh Cheyenne Daniels with Politico. Two questions if that's okay. I'm hearing lots about the John Lewis uh Voting Rights Advancement Act, potentially revisions to it. What would revisions look like? And frankly, what is the support from the Republican side? Or does this have to wait until Democrats win back either chamber? And if so, with this ruling today and with the redistricting that we are already hearing GOP members saying they want to get the ball rolling on, what's the likelihood Democrats can actually win either chamber in November? Now, >> well, listen, we cannot give up. We're not going to give up. Um, when we talk about revising it, we talk about revising it to meet the standards that were set by Calala, by Shelby, uh, dealing with some of the issues that uh, align with enforcement. Um, dealing with the fact that we want to bring back pre-clarance, and in order to do that, we need a modern-day uh, formula for determining which states are are bad actors. In fact, um the bill that we filed this year goes back uh to 1998 and it still covers about seven or eight states that have had um you know egregious behavior when it comes to voting discrimination. Here's what I'm saying is that voting discrimination is egregious and the Voting Rights Act while not totally uh eliminated by the Supreme Court case today, it was definitely gutted. But here's what I know for a fact. There's no way that the Supreme Court or that this Congress cannot let egregious state actors violate voter discrimination without having a remedy. And those remedies come from the Voting Rights Act. I think more than ever, uh, it's now time for Congress to act. I mean, that's what the Supreme Court said in the Shelby decision, waiting on Congress to come with a modern-day formula. Not a formula that that discriminates against uh discriminations that happened in the 1960s or '7s, but modernday discrimination. And we've seen that abound. Whether that's requiring people to pay uh their bail uh the the cost of court costs in order to to get their right to vote uh suspended, unsuspended, that's a modern day pole tax is what it is. or the Save Act that the Republicans are trying to ram down our throat. You know, and I know that a passport cost $110 and I have a lot of members of my fa of my constituency that can't afford that. So, they're definitely modern-day suppression tactics that the Republicans and extremists have have made alive and well, and we seek to address those in the Voting Rights Act of uh the John Roberts Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. And so, we know that we can't just submit the same thing. we must revise it in order to reflect u uh the court cases that have tried to get it. Please >> on the midterm aspect of that question, let me be very clear about one thing. We are not going to let the extremists successfully rig the midterm election.

[00:16:46]We will not allow them to artificially hold power as a result of a racial gerrymander, a partisan gerrymander, or dantis dummy mander. Doesn't matter what it is. We're not going to let them prevail.

[00:17:04]And we're not just talking about that.

[00:17:07]We faced this same very question about a year ago when Donald Trump and Republicans launched this scheme to gerrymander congressional maps all across the country and snatch away according to what people objectively said. It's going to be 10, 12, or 15 seats with folks claiming that Democrats could do nothing about it. But we stand here today having fought back all over the place. In Texas, in California, in Utah, in Ohio, in New Hampshire, in Nebraska, in Missouri, >> in Indiana, >> and most recently in Virginia, and Democrats haven't lost the gerrymandering battle, we're winning it.

[00:17:59]>> And everybody understands that regardless of what they do. in Florida, but we'll continue to push back. So, don't let any MAGA extremist fool you about what may ultimately result from this decision, particularly as it relates to the next few months, because we're going to fight back in the deep south and all over the country.

[00:18:27]And when it's all said and done, we're going to win.

[00:18:32]>> Yes. Uh Alli Mutnik with Punchpole.

[00:18:35]Would you support a push from blue states, New York, California, New Jersey to unravel their existing VR districts in order to erase Republican seats in those states, even if it could mean less black representation?

[00:18:49]>> I'm sorry, repeat that.

[00:18:51]>> Would you support a push in >> I heard parts of >> Yeah. So like New York, New Jersey, California, if they unravel their VRA seats in order to pick up Republican seats in those states, like is that a response that you would endorse >> to pick up Republican states, not Democratic states? Look, I can't speak for all of the Black Caucus, but we're already in a race to the bottom that we're winning, by the way, on germandering. And what this decision says is that it values partisan politics over discrimination. It's really, really, really, I mean, it takes us back. And so, to the extent that it's urging, it's inviting red states to totally take away all the Democratic seats and be totally red, it also encourages blue states to do exactly the same. So, I can't speak for my chairwoman, but I take I take 52 seats from California. I sure will. and 17 seats from uh Illinois.

[00:19:46]>> Mhm.

[00:19:46]>> Because at the end of the day, they are rigging this election to try to win. And we just can't sit back here and do nothing. We're going to play their game and we're going to beat them at it.

[00:19:58]>> And let's be clear, in California, for example, the three seats that are represented by black people, those are not majority African-American seats. We have proven that we can represent a district that is not majority black.

[00:20:11]>> Absolutely. So, let's not have a binary conversation about only black people can represent black seats because when we do represent a district, the entirety of the district rises. This is a larger issue. This is a larger issue about snatching democracy from the hands of voters across this country and continuing to demoralize and marginalize the black vote. So, this is a call to action. If you are black, if you love anything that is black, you need to be working to get everybody registered to vote because your votes on the line next.

[00:20:46]We're going to fight uh everywhere all the time, across the country, in the deep south, in the North, in the West, in the Midwest. We're going to fight them everywhere just like we've done as it relates to the gerrymandering battle that they started that we're finishing.

[00:21:06]>> Yeah. while at the same time protecting the ability of African-American communities, black communities to elect the candidate of their choice in the face of centuries of racial discrimination.

[00:21:20]And the nerve of these right-wing extremists on the Supreme Court to pretend as if >> racial bigotry no longer exists >> and then write an opinion that proves the exact opposite.

[00:21:31]>> Thank you. Thank you. So, at the end of the day, the Congressional Black Caucus is now at its highest level ever, 60 members strong, 56 in the House of Representatives with several vacancies.

[00:21:48]Only 11 of those members represent districts where a majority of the constituency are African-Ameans. 11. Do the math. That means we know how to get elected in districts all across the country, y'all, and we will continue to do so.

[00:22:06]We also recognize that in the Deep South, there's a long history of intentional discrimination >> against black communities.

[00:22:17]>> That's right.

[00:22:18]>> To try to suppress their ability >> to elect their candidate of choice. It's irrefutable, unmistakable, and ongoing in many instances.

[00:22:31]Now, this Supreme Court decision spoke to the Voting Rights Act, and they're trying to gut it, but we still have an intentional discrimination claim, always available to us under the 14th Amendment.

[00:22:45]>> That's right.

[00:22:47]>> And we'll continue to use it. I just wanted to for the precious purposes that was Sydney Kla Los Angeles, California that set the record straight.

[00:23:00]>> But a lot of members here represent districtsity black.

[00:23:03]>> Absolutely. Absolutely.

[00:23:04]>> And to be clear, those of us who do represent majority black districts represent that district. I grew up in that district. Black, white, green, Republican, Democrat. I have my finger on the pulse and I represent that entire district.

[00:23:19]>> You know, yeah. I I I think if we live in what some think exists as a postracial era, >> none of this would be needed.

[00:23:30]>> But we don't, particularly in the deep south, as evidenced by the fact that Louisiana has never had an African-American statewide elected official since reconstruction. No. Since the very seat that I hold in the United States Congress was elected by John Willis Manard, but never seated in the United States Congress 150 years ago and 150 years later, we still have yet to have an African-American elected statewide. Listen, as Terry just said, Congress member Su just said very eloquently, I represent white folk, black folk, Democrats, Republicans. I represent everyone that falls within my district. That's not always reciprocated.

[00:24:19]>> Hence the need for fairness, equality, and an opportunity for people to have fair elections.

[00:24:27]>> Are there any any further questions?

[00:24:29]Yes.

[00:24:30]>> Thank you, Chair Chair Clark. Michael Jones with Once Upon a Hill. One of the other uh challenges that some of you all have expressed is the media environment that we're in given the um fact that you know Elon Musk controls X Republican allies control Tik Tok some of the channels that you all are trying to use to reach um you know low propensity voters. I'm curious how you all are thinking about kind of messaging and organizing given the current media environment that we're in. How all how will you all go about reaching folks who you know may not be you know watching your live streams, reading your press releases or may maybe not always reading the publications we represent. So much of the future of you all success will be reaching voters and turning them out in ways that maybe you haven't been able to in the past. So I'm curious how you all are.

[00:25:18]>> Absolutely. We have a lot of partners on the ground. The conversations have been fast and furious today. The extending of our arms into grassroots organizations on the ground in communities across this nation is inevitable. Our clergy connections are deep and run deep. This is a massively devastating decision.

[00:25:40]Everyone understands the assign assignment. We are all ready and ready and willing to mobilize and be on the ground in communities across this nation. Many have already completed their primary elections. They're ready to go and gear up. We've got to get voters out. We understand the assignment. Our partners and allies understand the assignment and we are we're ready to go and we're mobilized.

[00:26:08]>> Uh Leah Rutenbrret with Gray Television.

[00:26:10]Um, I wonder what your message is to some members on the other side of the aisle who sort of celebrate some of the civil rights leaders that you've talked about, but for example, Speaker Johnson who often says celebrates MLK today, this morning, he said this was quote, obviously the right results. What is your message to some members who maybe don't see the connect that they should?

[00:26:31]>> Yeah. Well, you know, we we will continue to make it plain to them. you know that I I think they're acting like uh they're pretending not to know. They know exactly what this means and they know exactly what they've been assigned to do by Donald Trump. And so we are uh very focused on what we must do uh to counteract and anyone who wants to join us in this mission who understand the assignment are welcome to do so.

[00:27:03]Hi, Falia Scaram AP. Um, can you talk a little bit about the specifics of how this decision will impact 2026 specifically and what this fight that you're referencing? What does that look like? Are you concerned about individual members? Is this lawsuits? What >> a community? You must have three things to have a community in it. You must have a wholly independent economic structure that can provide goods, service, products and things for your own people and jobs and and tax bases for your own people. You should at least control four basic things. You should be trying to control water, food, medicine, and energy to be able to survive and compete.

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