Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) has joined a chorus of Democrats asserting that black representation in America is “under attack.”
The Alabama Democrat made the remark on X on Wednesday, writing, “This is a five-alarm fire. Black political representation in America is under attack.”
She provided no further context in that particular message, but she has been posting about the Supreme Court’s decision on redistricting efforts across the country and specifically in Alabama which has become a focal point ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The U.S. Supreme Court has set the stage for Alabama to get rid of one of two largely Black congressional districts before this year’s midterm elections.
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Alabama officials had pointed to the Louisiana case as reason for the Supreme Court to end a judicial order to use a court-imposed House map until after the 2030 census. The high court on Monday overturned that order and directed a lower court to reconsider the case in light of the Louisiana decision. That could free the state to instead use a map approved in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature that includes only one district where Black residents comprise a majority.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said “the power to draw Alabama’s maps goes back to the people’s elected representatives,” as intended.
Yet, Sewell is still accusing Republicans of trying to “steal” the next election.
“I know it’s a race to the bottom, but it’s a — it’s to the bottom, and you’re fighting fire with fire. And I think it’s important that we win this fight, because it’s about making sure that the Republicans don’t steal the next election. And that’s exactly what they’re doing,” she said, accusing Republicans of wanting to silence minority voters.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex (D-NY) also reshared Sewell’s post, asserting that black political representation is “under attack” in America. She also recently credited black Americans specifically with creating “democracy in this country.”
Stating that there are “very few, like, real archetypes” of what “America is all about,” Ocasio-Cortez pointed to the Civil Rights movement and “voting rights movement and how black Americans really created democracy in this country.” She also claimed that America was apartheid until the 1960s.
This coincides with Ocasio-Cortez topping the potential Democrat primary 2028 field in a recent survey. However, she has publicly stated that her ambitions are “way bigger” than running for president.