Statement from State Rep. Juandalynn Givan on SCOTUS Ruling

Today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court to side with the Alabama Republican Party and lift the stay clearing the path for HB1 and SB1 is more than a legal ruling — it is a devastating political and moral failure that threatens the voice, voting strength, and future of Black Alabamians and working families across this state.

As a Black woman serving in the Alabama House of Representatives representing District 60, I know exactly what is at stake because I represent communities that have historically been locked out, shut out, underfunded, overlooked, and ignored.

This fight has never simply been about lines on a map.

This is about whether Black communities in Alabama will have fair representation in Congress.

This is about whether the political power of working people, poor people, elderly people, and marginalized communities will continue to be diluted for partisan gain.

And yes — this is about white supremacy at its best.

Not the white supremacy of burning crosses and white hoods alone, but the modern-day white supremacy of manipulating systems, redrawing maps, suppressing representation, and maintaining political power at all costs.

I must also speak directly to my profound disappointment in Justice Clarence Thomas.

For generations, Black Americans celebrated his rise to the United States Supreme Court. Many viewed his elevation as historic — only the second Black man after the honorable Justice Thurgood Marshall to sit on the highest court in the land.

Black people across this nation took pride in seeing someone who looked like us ascend to one of the most powerful positions in America.

But representation without responsibility means nothing.

A Black face in a high place means very little if the policies and decisions supported continue to harm Black communities, weaken Black political power, and undermine the very voting rights generations fought and died to secure.

This moment is painful because many believed history would produce understanding, empathy, and protection for those still fighting for equality and fair representation.

Instead, today’s ruling clears the way for efforts many of us believe will dilute Black voting strength and silence communities already struggling to be heard.

And the consequences will not stop at congressional maps.

When representation is weakened, communities lose resources.

When communities lose representation, they lose schools, healthcare access, economic investment, environmental protections, infrastructure, and political leverage.

The same political forces celebrating this ruling are the same forces attacking public education, questioning Social Security, cutting programs for working families, and labeling basic human needs as “entitlements” while protecting wealth and power for the privileged few.

The people who will suffer most will not be the wealthy or politically connected.

It will be seniors relying on Social Security.

It will be children in underfunded schools.

It will be working mothers trying to feed their families.

It will be Black communities already fighting poverty, violence, healthcare disparities, and economic abandonment.

We know Alabama’s history.

We know the history of voter suppression.

We know the history of gerrymandering.

We know the history of moving the goalposts every time Black people gain political ground.

But we also know this:

Every generation before us fought too hard, marched too far, bled too much, and sacrificed too greatly for us to quietly surrender our voices now.

The fight is not over.

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Not ever.

And as long as I have breath in my body and a seat in the Alabama House of Representatives, I will continue fighting for District 60, for voting rights, for fair representation, for public education, for working families, and for every marginalized community that refuses to be erased.

— STATE REPRESENTATIVE JUANDALYNN GIVAN
HOUSE DISTRICT 60