Rep. Angie Nixon, Rep. Tracie Davis and Faith Leaders Condemn Gov. DeSantis’s Unconstitutional Maps

FOR PLANNING PURPOSES

Friday, April 22, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT

Austin Schuler, aschuler@faithinpubliclife.org,

Jacksonville, FL –On Friday, April 22 at 11 a.m., Representative Angie Nixon, Representative Tracie Davis and local faith leaders will join together at Jacksonville City Hall to condemn the passing of Florida’s congressional maps. These new maps will deny Black Floridians’ fair representation, violate the Voting Rights Act, the United States and Florida constitutions, and violate our equal human dignity.

For video of the event, click here.

Rep. Angie Nixon, District 14

“If they are willing to come after Disney, they are willing to come after you. And so we ask you to stand up with us while he (Gov. DeSantis) is slashing Black representation by half in the state of Florida. I have a problem with that. I have a problem with the fact that I'm still fighting the same fight that my grandmother and my grandfather had to fight. I have a problem with the fact that he is turning the 14th Amendment against Black people when it was designed to allow us to have the right to vote.”

Rep. Tracie Davis, District 13

“That map is offensive to this Jacksonville community. It's offensive to the Orlando community. It's offensive to the Miami community. And any of those communities in between. It is unacceptable that this map that was passed out of the House has no regard for the 14th Amendment. It has no regard for the Voting Rights Act. It has no regard for the Constitution. It has no regard for Black voters and Brown voters and all other communities in this state.”

Rev. Russell Meyer, St. Johns Lutheran Church, Executive Director, Florida Council of Churches

“Florida is now one of the most diverse states in the nation. And it deserves to have a multi-cultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic legislature… And yet we have a majority party that insists that we will only have white congressional districts. This is an affront to every Floridian and to everyone who calls themselves a baptized Christian, because in the church we baptize all people, no matter what they look like, where they come from, how they speak or what their accent is. The church depends on a democracy that welcomes and is inclusive for everybody. We need a state that is welcoming and inclusive for everybody.

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Faith in Public Life Action is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, with a network of over 50,000 leaders, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the state and federal level that affirm our values and the human dignity of all.