Over 500 people lined rows of chairs and sat on the floor in the Local 124 hall of the I.B.E.W. union in south Kansas City, to express their anger and worry that many of their basic rights would be affected if Missouri’s congressional map is redrawn to favor Republicans.
Redistricting has become a priority for the Trump administration as well as Missouri Republicans.
46-year-old Terrence Wise, an advocate for workers' rights, was there, his face reflecting his grave concern.
“Workers like myself and folks in the community look at it as more than just some maps being redrawn," he said.
Missouri has eight congressional seats, and just two of them are held by Democrats. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver holds the 5th District seat, which covers Kansas City’s urban area as well as eastern Jackson and parts of Cass County.
The other is the St. Louis area’s 1st District, held by Rep. Wesley Bell. Cleaver and Bell are also the states only Black representatives.
Terrence Wise, who is Black, said he doesn’t believe it’s an accident Republicans want to redraw lines around the district of a Black representative. He's been a worker in the fast-food industry for years, he said, and is the daughter of three girls.
If Cleaver's seat is flipped, Wise believes it will strip him and other low-income people of their voice and power at the ballot box. He’s already been affected by the Republican legislature's anti-worker efforts, he said, when lawmakers rescinded paid sick leave for workers.
“Proposition A got more votes than any elected leader in Missouri, only to see folks in Jefferson City, Missouri, overturn the will of the people," said Wise. “Here we go again, another round of the people's voice being dampened.”
If the 5th District flips to Republican control, Wise said he is afraid not just workers, but many others, will lose more rights.
“It's an attack on our health care, our wages, unions, women's rights,” he said. “When we’re not represented as a people at the ballot box, then who’s going to do our bidding when it comes to those things?”
Many in the crowd took heated aim at Missouri House Speaker John Patterson, a Lee's Summit Republican. Patterson is calling for a special session in September to address, among other things, redistricting efforts. Gov. Mike Kehoe has not yet confirmed whether he will convene the session.
Rev. Rodney Williams, pastor of Swope Parkway United Christian Church and a civil rights community leader, also believes redistricting efforts are a power grab in an effort to reduce the impact of minority voters.
“It is designed only to make sure that those in office stay in office and to suppress the vote of other African American and brown people,” Williams said.
According to censusreporter.org, over 41% of Missouri's 5th District voters identify as a minority.
Williams said when he entered the I.B.E.W. auditorium, he saw a true representation of America, a tapestry of all different kinds of people.
"Those who classify as white, Black, gay, straight, people that are hurting, people who need answers,” he said.
Williams hopes the movement to challenge redistricting efforts will galvanize more to cooperate, to call out the legislature on actions that undermine support for working Missourians.
Beverly Harvey of Indivisible Kansas City, a grassroots action network, was one of the organizers of Wednesday night’s event. She shared her heightened concern after learning the Texas House approved their new congressional map earlier that day.
She worries Missouri lawmakers will see the Texas action as an affirmation of their goals and follow suit.
Harvey says this battle isn’t over. She and others will be hosting another rally in Jefferson City on September 10, to help voters statewide see there are risks to all Missourians.
“We are currently trying to fight the gerrymandering or redistricting in Kansas City, Missouri,” said Harvey. “Here (in Missouri) we have two Democratic seats, and they are trying to change the districts so that those districts turn into Republican seats, so they have total control.”
