Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) said Tuesday on CNN’s “Tonight” that the Republican Party was engaged in “a war on black people as it relates to voting.”
Anchor Don Lemon said, “The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today that could weaken voting rights in Arizona. Major push nationwide to make it harder for people to vote. What does this mean particularly for black voters?”
Jackson Lee said, “Well, I think tragically we have not had this historic opposition to our rights since slavery, during the Jim Crow days and of course the harshness of the 1960s. The tragedy of this is an entire party, the Republican Party, is committed to voter suppression, committed to avoiding the opportunity of votes. Donald Trump laid out he only wants one day for votes. They don’t want opportunities for absentee ballot, extended voting, same-day registration, all things that empower young people and people of color, African-Americans.”
She continued, “This is a war on black people as it relates to voting. Unfortunately, it seems to Supreme Court is going to participate with this seemingly intended decision to narrow the only remaining aspect of the Voting Right Act, Section 2, which we are trying to fix with the John Robert Lewis legislation in HR4. This is a fight for democracy, a fight for justice, and an opportunity or a desire or a need to restore the voting rights to people of color and particularly black people. We will not allow this to happen under the Biden administration and the Democratic House and Senate. It’s tragic that Republicans want to take that stand because they can’t win fairly. They can’t draw people to their positions. They are now trying to suppress the votes.”
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