Inside a packed Jackson Convention Center, civil rights leaders, lawmakers and voting rights advocates tied the court’s ruling to Mississippi’s long history of voter suppression. They said the decision could open the door for state lawmakers to redraw congressional, legislative, judicial and local political maps.
Several speakers pointed to Mississippi’s 1890 Constitution, which used poll taxes, literacy tests and other barriers to lock Black Mississippians out of political power.
Rep. Bryant Clark, D-Pickens, said the current fight over political maps echoes that history.
“136 years later, right down the street from that same building, we are fighting that same fight,” Clark said. … “Same fight, same song, second verse.”
The rally followed the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which narrowed how race can be used in redistricting under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Voting rights advocates say the decision could make it harder to challenge maps that weaken the political power of Black voters.
The ruling has already prompted some Republican leaders in Mississippi to call for new maps, including possible changes to the 2nd Congressional District, represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson.
Gov. Tate Reeves canceled a special session for redrawing the state’s supreme court districts that had been scheduled to begin Wednesday. But he has said Mississippi still has work to do on legislative, judicial and congressional maps.
At Wednesday’s rally, much of the criticism centered on the possibility that lawmakers could target Thompson’s district.
Lowndes County District Attorney Scott Colom, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, said the push is not really about whether Thompson represents the district well.
“They no longer want the voters to pick them,” Colom said. “They want to pick their voters.”
Thompson himself told the crowd political fights should be settled through elections.
“If we settle our differences at the ballot box, then whoever wins, that’s what it is,” Thompson said. “But if you lose, don’t act like the folk did on January 6th, tear the place up, because that’s not who we are as Americans.”
Speakers also argued redistricting is tied to issues beyond elections. Reena Evers-Everette, daughter of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, said voting rights affect whether communities have power to shape public policy.
“It’s all about empowerment, and it’s equal rights,” Evers-Everette said. “Health care. Child care, Medicaid. We won’t get those things unless we vote for them.”
Civil rights attorney and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cliff Johnson said the size and energy of the crowd showed concerns about ballot access are resonating statewide.
“I came back from law school in 1992, and I’ve been in plenty of marches on these streets in Jackson, and I have never seen a crowd like this,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the rally could connect younger Mississippians to the state’s voting rights history. He said he hopes Republican leaders keep that history in mind before moving quickly to redraw maps.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure on them to do what everyone else has done and to run into the legislative chambers and draw maps like everybody else has drawn,” Johnson said. “And I hope they’ll take a beat and think about our shared story, our unique story. It doesn’t have to be ugly.”
Organizers say the next step is turning Wednesday’s energy into sustained organizing and voter turnout through the midterm elections and Mississippi’s 2027 statewide election cycle.
