Elders, activists and students urge Louisiana senators to keep two majority‑Black districts in SB 407

Dozens of Louisiana residents — including civil‑rights leaders, clergy, students and elders who helped desegregate schools — told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee on May 8 that proposed congressional maps under consideration would strip Black Louisianans of meaningful representation and erode trust in state government.

"You have a choice in front of you," said Leona Tate, one of the three children who integrated McDonogh No. 19 Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960. "You can draw a map that reflects who Louisiana actually is...or you can draw a map that tells my grandchildren that your votes don't count." Tate urged senators to reject proposals that would reduce the number of districts where Black voters can elect their preferred candidates.

Speakers framed the debate as both moral and legal. Deirdre Meredith, a filmmaker documenting the hearings, criticized the speed of the process after a U.S. Supreme Court decision and said the governor’s state‑of‑emergency declaration to suspend parts of the election calendar created the appearance that redistricting is being rushed before full legal review. "If these actions are truly fair, if they're truly constitutional, then why the rush?" she asked.

Community leaders cited numbers and history. "Louisiana is 33% Black," activist Gary Chambers said. "We deserve, we have earned...congressional seats." Charles Phipps of the Urban League of Louisiana warned senators that maps reducing Black influence would be litigated, and that the organization opposed any plan that "dilutes the black political power of Louisianans." Several witnesses urged lawmakers to adopt SB 407, which supporters say would preserve two minority‑majority congressional districts.

Other witnesses emphasized stakes across generations: student leaders and youth organizers said the outcome would determine whether young people stay and build careers in the state, while clergy and elders framed the choice as a test of the state's commitment to the Voting Rights Act’s legacy.

Committee leaders repeatedly asked speakers to stay focused on the "four corners" of the bills and limited testimony to six minutes because of the large turnout. Senators did not take a final vote at the hearing; the chair said the committee planned to resume consideration next Wednesday.

Witnesses from a range of organizations — the NAACP, Urban League, Young Democrats, and state Democratic Party leaders — reiterated they would use judicial and electoral tools if maps they consider discriminatory advance. The hearing featured repeated accusations that some proposals were designed to produce 5–1 or 6–0 Republican congressional outcomes in a state where Democrats and Black voters remain a substantial voting bloc.

The committee heard calls for other remedies as well: requests for an independent redistricting commission, for more transparent public roadshows around map drafting, and for demographers and the secretary of state to answer outstanding technical questions about demographics and the treatment of ballots already cast.

The committee recessed with no formal action and with members and witnesses acknowledging the hearing’s emotion and gravity. "History has its eyes on you," several speakers said, calling on senators to protect what they described as long‑fought voting rights.

Quotes in this article are attributed to speakers who identified themselves in the hearing record, including Leona Tate; Theron Jackson; Bishop Paul S. Morton; Bishop Brandon Boutin; Gary Chambers; Denise Marcel; Deirdre Meredith; Charles Phipps; and others.