Moorhead: The new maps advance racially discriminatory congressional districts

Every faith tradition represented in Texas Impact affirms deep commitment to racial justice. This means not only working to eliminate racism within our faith communities, but also resisting racism in the public square. This means advocating for election systems that prioritize leadership opportunities for people from communities that are disproportionately impacted by the ongoing legacy of racial injustice.

Yet we see that the new maps advance racially discriminatory congressional districts that would undermine and thwart the racial justice commitments of our faith traditions. We have listened to hours and hours of public testimony on this redistricting process and have heard overwhelming cries that the process has not been fair and will harm people and communities.

As Texans of faith and conscience, we believe every individual is an infinitely valuable child of God, and we affirm the imperative to love our neighbors as ourselves. Legislators have the power to manifest that love in policies that protect the power of every person’s vote—but instead, they have calibrated these districts to deny many Texans of color access to representation of their choosing.

We cannot claim to love our neighbors if we deny their constitutional right to participate equally in the formation of our shared government. Voting is a matter of faith, citizenship, and democracy. As a society, we must guard against every social, political, and legal effort that seeks to deny anyone the right of self-determination.