Tempers have flared at a redistricting hearing in Mississippi, where many speakers criticize a perceived power grab aimed at reducing Black political influence and strengthening Republican control.

MICHAEL GOLDBERG/Mississippi Today Tempers flared Thursday at a packed redistricting hearing at the Mississippi Capitol, where a large majority of speakers criticized what they said was a power grab aimed at diminishing Black political power and further entrenching Republican dominance over state politics.

The hearing in Jackson capped off a slate of often fiery public hearings that began in August and included stops in north Mississippi the Delta east Mississippi and the Gulf Coast. A Republican-dominated committee listened to speakers who shared their views on whether Mississippi should redraw its electoral maps, a move that could reshape the state’s political representation for years to come.

Republicans control the state Legislature and currently hold three out of the state’s four seats in the U.S. House, but they could potentially redraw maps to further strengthen their grip on Mississippi’s political offices.

Mississippians arrived at the Capitol Thursday wielding placards, megaphones and shirts emblazoned with the phrase “I FIGHT FOR VOTING RIGHTS.”A smattering of pro-redistricting attendees wearing signature red blazers of the Mississippi Federation of Republican Women were sitting in the front row, but opponents of redistricting dominated the crowd.

Many speakers pointed out the state’s sordid history of racial discrimination, and the committee’s composition reflected the intertwined nature of racial and political polarization in Mississippi. The committee, handpicked by legislative leaders, consists of 16 Republicans, all but one of whom are white, and four Democrats, all of whom are Black.

Walter Boone, a Jackson resident, urged lawmakers not to further continue a historical pattern of policymaking that harms Black residents, and sign their names to what he called “the Mississippi Plan 2.0.”

“The proponents of redistricting talk and stand on a supposed high ground of race neutrality,” Boone said. “But we already know that in Mississippi the most perfectly race neutral laws were used intentionally to disastrous racial effect. Race neutrality in language does not matter if the end result is that Black Mississippians are not fairly represented. And this is where we’re headed.”

A large contingent of Democratic lawmakers sat in the audience, including House Democratic Leader Robert Johnson of Natchez. In an episode that reflects the division sparked by the redistricting push, Johnson sparred with the very first speaker of the evening: Republican State Auditor Shad White.

White said he had heard lawmakers might not redraw Mississippi’s congressional maps in a special session expected this fall. But he urged the Legislature to do so in the future, specifically to target Rep. Bennie Thompson, the state’s only Black member of Congress and only Democrat.

“The Delta has been at the bottom of far too many rankings for far too long, and the Delta deserves better leadership than Bennie Thompson,” White said. “I’m telling you there’s a silent majority of people who want better representation for the Mississippi Delta.”The crowd booed, and Republican Sen. Dean Kirby, the committee chairman, threatened to adjourn the hearing.

As White began walking toward the exit, Johnson stood up and asked whether it was against the committee’s rules for a speaker to make comments that disparaged another person. Johnson said White told him the Delta needed better leadership. Johnson said he then told White he had “failed us as state auditor” and White responded that he was the “best auditor Mississippi has ever had.”The pair wagged their fingers at each other, and Johnson said he criticized White for prosecuting “poor city clerks” instead of recovering money misspent by state officials. White then “clipclopped away,” Johnson said.

White, a likely Republican candidate for governor, later said he came to voice an opinion that none of his potential rivals were there to offer.

“No Republicans thinking of running for governor showed up except me, and I thought it was important for the committee to know that room of activists did not speak for all the people of this state,” White said. “They hurled insults and maybe a couple of four-letter words, but I’m not backing down from standing up for Mississippi, even when it’s a fight.”The Republican-led effort to redistrict also reignited concerns from opponents that hard-won progress to increase Black representation in Mississippi since the Jim Crow era would be eradicated.

Brooke Floyd, a Jackson resident, said her grandfather was a prominent Black educator and school administrator during the Jim Crow era, and later became a doorman for the state House after integration. She said there was a direct connection between the eradication of Black political power and many of the state’s problems.

“It looks like being one of the poorest states in the union while refusing to raise the minimum wage,” Floyd said. “A state with one of the highest Black maternal and infant mortality rates.”Those who spoke in favor of redistricting at the hearing said the consideration of race in drawing electoral maps was no longer justified given Mississippi’s efforts to overcome its past, and that the state should instead move toward a “color blind” approach.

Connie Davis, a resident of Rankin County, said she supported efforts to redraw maps drawn in an effort to meet “racial targets.”

“The government must treat people as individuals and not racial categories,” Davis said. “The scales of justice should not favor anyone unjustly. The laws are applicable to everyone, regardless of their race. All of us here today should want fair representation under the law. That is in our beautifully written, colorblind constitution.”Down the street from Capitol earlier on Thursday, opponents of the mid-decade redistricting push gathered on the lawn in front of the Mississippi Supreme Court Building for a rally organized by the ACLU.

Attendees held signs that said “NO JIM CROW MAPS.”Amir Badat, the Southern states director for the voting rights organization Fair Fight, said Mississippians across the state showed up at the hearings to voice their opposition, and that lawmakers should act accordingly.

“This is where all of our voices come together, and we are not going to let any of them be ignored,” Badat said.

Attendees later streamed into the Capitol, chanting “Leave our maps alone.”Seconds before a large group filed into the lobby, megaphones in hand, Sen. Kirby, the committee chairman, slipped into a nearby elevator and disappeared until the hearing started.

The hearing was held in a room at the Capitol that quickly filled, and some attendees were forced to sit in an overflow area outside. Shortly before the hearing got underway, Johnson, the House minority leader, hinted at future litigation.

“This is testimony,” Johnson said. “And at some point it may be evidence. So let’s make sure we’re heard.”The redistricting push in Mississippi and elsewhere was set in motion by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Callais decision which removed protection for majority-minority districts and cleared the way for state legislatures to redraw political lines for partisan advantage. Republican leaders believe the court’s decision ended the practice of allowing race to be considered when drawing political maps.

Now that the legislative joint committee has finished holding public hearings, the full Legislature is expected to convene in a special session this fall to redraw at least state legislative maps.

That wouldn’t impact this November’s federal election, but Mississippi lawmakers are likely to target Thompson’s seat with redistricting before he’s up for reelection again in 2028.

In a statement, Nancy Loome, president of the public education advocacy group The Parents’ Campaign, said redrawn maps would elevate the importance of party primaries as general election campaigns become less competitive.

“In the past, this type of redistricting has yielded gerrymandered districts that heavily favor one party or the other, which tends to make Mississippi’s general elections less meaningful and participation in the primary election of paramount importance,” Loome said in a statement.

After the nearly three-hour hearing concluded Thursday night, Mississippi Today asked Kirby how the public feedback might influence the imminent redistricting process.

“I appreciate everyone expressing their opinion. We came to listen, and we did,” Kirby said. “This committee is going to do what the courts tell us to do.”This story was originally published by Mississippi Today and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.