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'I'm Sick And Tired!': Texas Dem Ron Reynolds Goes Nuclear On GOP's 'Racial' Gerrymandering
Forbes Breaking News
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7 weeks ago
During a speech to the Texas House of Representatives on Wednesday, Democratic Texas State Representative Ron Reynolds spoke about the GOP's proposed congressional maps.
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00:00
Chair, I recognize Mr. Reynolds.
00:05
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
00:07
Members today, in this second call special session,
00:12
the first order of business should have been House Bill 1.
00:15
We should have been debating a bill to restore flood relief
00:21
to many Texans who lost their lives in the Kerr County historic flooding.
00:27
But instead, the first bill that we're taking up
00:31
is a racial gerrymandered House Bill 4
00:35
from a mid-decade redistricting that is totally unnecessary.
00:45
You know, I want to put this in context.
00:49
Just less than two weeks ago,
00:52
we commemorated and celebrated the 60th anniversary
00:58
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
01:01
And everyone in this body should be extra proud of it
01:04
because it was signed into law by then Lyndon Baines Johnson,
01:11
President of the United States of America from Texas,
01:16
our own Texans.
01:17
This, in the history books,
01:19
is one of the most transformational pieces of legislation
01:23
in our nation's history.
01:25
It changed literally the course of this country.
01:29
It righted a historic wrong.
01:33
And what do I mean by that?
01:34
Prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
01:38
people who looked like me,
01:39
they couldn't serve in public office.
01:42
In fact, I'm the first African-American elected
01:45
in Fort Bend County as state representative
01:47
since Reconstruction.
01:48
And I know I stand on the shoulders of those
01:51
who made good trouble.
01:54
What do I mean by that?
01:55
The people who came before me
01:57
whose shoulders I stand on today,
01:59
they risked their lives
02:00
to end Jim Crow laws
02:03
that had literacy tests,
02:06
that had poll taxes,
02:07
where people had to recite the Constitution.
02:11
People had to guess
02:12
how many bubbles in a bar so not just people
02:15
but African-Americans in this country
02:17
because of them risking their lives on freedom rides,
02:22
because they're risking their lives
02:24
sitting at lunch counters,
02:27
because they marched, they protested,
02:30
knowing they may be beaten with billy clubs,
02:33
knowing that they may have water hydrants
02:36
pushed on them,
02:38
knowing that law enforcement
02:39
was not there to serve and protect them
02:41
but to push them back
02:43
and enforce Jim Crow.
02:46
They defied the odds.
02:48
They pressed forward.
02:49
Many of them didn't make it back home.
02:53
Many of them lost their lives
02:54
because lynching was a way of life.
02:58
Lynching was coming.
03:01
Prior to the passage
03:03
of the Voting Rights Act of 1965,
03:05
there was an incident
03:06
that was captured on national TV
03:08
called Bloody Sunday.
03:11
And if you don't know it,
03:11
you should Google it.
03:12
Bloody Sunday
03:13
was when former Congressman John Lewis
03:16
and other freedom fighters,
03:18
they marched from Selma to Montgomery
03:21
for ending Jim Crow
03:23
so that people could vote of color.
03:26
Many of them were beaten,
03:27
including Congressman John Lewis.
03:29
He was beaten nearly to death
03:32
by law enforcement
03:33
because they weren't there
03:35
to serve and protect.
03:36
He was beaten to a pulp.
03:38
He nearly lost his life.
03:40
He was knocked unconscious.
03:42
It captured the American people
03:44
to say,
03:45
not on our watch
03:46
do we want to continue
03:47
to allow this country
03:49
to treat African Americans this way.
03:52
And people of good conscience
03:54
said that they didn't want
03:56
to be on the wrong side of history.
03:57
So they came in solidarity
03:59
with John Lewis
04:00
and Martin Luther King
04:02
and others
04:03
to say we want to change this.
04:07
And so it wasn't just
04:08
African Americans
04:08
then walking and marching.
04:11
It was people of good conscience
04:12
that were Anglo,
04:14
that were other ethnicities
04:16
to say in America
04:18
we believe that every human being
04:19
should be treated with dignity
04:21
and have the right to vote.
04:22
Long story short,
04:24
that was why they passed
04:25
the Voting Rights Act of 1965
04:27
because of Bloody Sunday.
04:30
And here we are in 2025,
04:32
not 1965,
04:34
with a racial gerrymandered map
04:37
that takes us back
04:38
to those dark days.
04:40
And why do I say that?
04:42
Because we have a map
04:43
where we have
04:45
the first African American district
04:47
that was created
04:48
after the passage
04:50
of the Voting Rights Act
04:51
to elect our own Barbara Jordan,
04:54
the first African American
04:55
to serve in Congress
04:56
in the South
04:57
since Reconstruction
04:58
in the 18th
04:59
Congressional District.
05:01
That was progress.
05:04
But here we are
05:05
with a map
05:06
that eliminates
05:09
the progress
05:09
that was made,
05:10
the marginal progress
05:11
that was made
05:12
in a state
05:13
that has more African Americans
05:15
than any other state
05:16
in the country.
05:17
You had Barbara Jordan.
05:20
After her,
05:20
you had the legendary
05:22
Mickey Leland.
05:23
After that,
05:24
you had the legendary
05:25
Craig Washington.
05:27
After that,
05:28
you had the legendary
05:29
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee
05:31
followed by Congressman
05:32
Sylvester Turner
05:33
and his death.
05:35
It's already a shame
05:36
that they didn't call
05:38
the special election
05:39
after Congressman Turner
05:41
died in January
05:43
to put that ballot on May.
05:45
But here we are today
05:47
where this map,
05:49
this racial gerrymander,
05:51
would now pit the winner
05:52
of the 18th
05:53
Congressional District
05:54
with Congressman Al Green
05:56
of the 9th Congressional District
05:58
because he is now
06:00
under this proposed map
06:02
in the 18th.
06:04
Congressman Al Green
06:05
has been a freedom fighter
06:06
speaking truth to power.
06:09
And now,
06:09
you're taking away
06:11
a historic district
06:13
and two African Americans
06:15
and you're making
06:16
Houston pit
06:17
two to one.
06:21
And then,
06:21
you go to Dallas.
06:22
It doesn't stop there.
06:24
The historic
06:27
30th Congressional District
06:29
that was once held
06:30
by Edna Bernice Johnson
06:31
who we memorialized
06:34
and we,
06:35
her body lied in state.
06:36
She was a transformational
06:37
legislator from this body.
06:39
She was preceded
06:43
by Congressman Jackson Crockett,
06:45
our own colleague,
06:47
former colleague.
06:48
Now,
06:49
that seat is being,
06:51
Congresswoman Crockett
06:52
was removed
06:53
from her district
06:54
into the 33rd
06:56
to pit her
06:57
against our former colleague,
06:58
Congressman Mark Vesey.
07:00
So,
07:01
we should be increasing
07:02
African American representation
07:04
by 50%.
07:05
But,
07:07
unfortunately,
07:08
this racial
07:09
gerrymandered map
07:10
reduces it
07:11
by 50%.
07:12
And I don't know,
07:14
I feel like
07:15
Fannie Lou Hamer
07:16
when she said
07:16
she was sick and tired
07:17
of being sick and tired.
07:18
I'm sick and tired
07:19
of seeing more
07:20
attacks
07:22
on African Americans
07:23
in this state
07:24
that has more
07:25
African Americans
07:26
than any other state.
07:27
I'm sick and tired
07:28
of seeing more attacks
07:29
on our Hispanic
07:30
brothers and sisters
07:31
because this map
07:32
doesn't just
07:33
disenfranchised
07:34
African Americans
07:35
but also our Latino
07:37
brothers and sisters.
07:38
I'm sick and tired
07:39
of this attacks
07:40
on black and brown
07:41
with this anti-diversity,
07:43
equity, and inclusion.
07:45
I'm sick and tired
07:46
of us not wanting
07:46
to talk about it
07:47
because we implemented
07:48
critical race theory
07:50
so we don't even
07:50
teach about it anymore.
07:52
So,
07:53
I feel the pain
07:54
of our ancestors
07:55
who thought
07:56
they had overcome
07:57
many of the barriers
07:59
of the past
08:00
that we shouldn't
08:01
have to re-litigate
08:02
these issues
08:03
in 2025.
08:04
Thank God
08:05
we have the Voting Rights
08:06
Act of 1965
08:07
and this House Bill 4
08:09
violates that.
08:11
It's unconstitutional
08:12
and it more than likely
08:15
will be struck down.
08:17
But in the meantime,
08:18
many people,
08:19
including my constituents,
08:21
that are currently
08:21
in the 9th
08:22
Congressional District
08:23
are going to be
08:24
disenfranchised.
08:25
And so,
08:27
I know,
08:29
as a man of faith,
08:30
I believe that
08:30
in a higher power
08:32
and I believe
08:33
that
08:34
Barbara Jordan
08:36
would be
08:36
turning over
08:37
in her grave
08:38
to see what we're
08:38
doing in this body.
08:39
I believe that
08:40
Sheila Jackson Lee
08:41
and Mayor
08:41
Congressman
08:42
Sylvester Turner
08:43
will be turning over
08:44
in their grave
08:45
to see what we're
08:46
doing in this body.
08:48
And
08:48
I know many of you
08:50
probably are like,
08:51
well,
08:52
this is just something
08:52
we have to do.
08:53
people elect us
08:55
to be statesmen,
08:56
to put people
08:58
before politics.
09:00
And this
09:00
racial gerrymander
09:02
is going to
09:02
disenfranchise
09:03
and impact people,
09:05
specifically
09:06
people of color,
09:08
packing and cracking
09:09
communities of interest,
09:11
communities of interest
09:12
to disenfranchise them
09:15
so they don't
09:16
have the ability
09:17
to elect
09:18
a candidate
09:19
of their choice.
09:21
And so,
09:21
I rise today
09:22
in opposition
09:23
of this racial
09:24
gerrymander map
09:25
and ask you
09:26
to be on the right
09:27
side of history
09:28
and reject
09:29
this notion,
09:31
this Texas takeover
09:33
and do what's best
09:35
for the citizens
09:36
of this state.
09:38
Not President Trump,
09:39
not anybody else,
09:41
but the citizens
09:41
of this state.
09:44
They are the ones
09:46
that are watching.
09:47
And you may not
09:48
realize this today,
09:49
but just like
09:50
the people
09:51
that were
09:52
on the wrong
09:53
side of history
09:54
back in 1965,
09:56
history will be
09:57
looking at
09:58
the decisions
09:59
that is made
09:59
in this body today.
10:00
And I want to
10:01
challenge you,
10:02
when you look
10:02
in the mirror,
10:03
where were you?
10:05
Were you on the
10:06
right side of history
10:07
in favor of
10:09
voting rights
10:09
for all?
10:11
Or were you
10:11
on the wrong
10:12
side of history
10:13
where you're
10:14
upholding
10:15
discrimination
10:16
with this
10:17
racial gerrymandered
10:18
map?
10:19
So I strongly
10:20
urge you to do
10:21
the right thing
10:21
and protect
10:23
the rights
10:24
of the vulnerable
10:25
that's found
10:26
in Proverbs
10:27
31, 8, 9.
10:28
And I'll close
10:29
with this.
10:29
It says to speak
10:30
out for the one
10:31
who cannot speak
10:32
for the rights
10:34
of those who
10:34
are doomed.
10:35
Speak out,
10:36
judge fairly,
10:37
and defend
10:38
the rights
10:39
of oppressed
10:40
and needy people.
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