Governor Ron DeSantis' All Out War on Black Floridians

Governor Ron DeSantis’ All Out War on Black Floridians

by April 15, 2023

Women wearing face masks fill out vote-by-mail ballots at the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office on October 15, 2020 in Orlando, Florida.

Updated 4/15/2023 at 8:00 am ET

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has not held back from antagonizing Black Americans in the sunshine state. But that’s what he’s done without a bunch of fanfare that has so many Black Floridians on edge.

Voting rights are a prime example. Since entering office, DeSantis has waged an unprecedented attack on Black voters and Black political power in Florida. The accusations against DeSantis include allegations that he gerrymandered Black voting power into oblivion and pushed through voting restrictions in an attempt to scare and confuse Black voters into staying home.

Let’s start with his gerrymandering strategy. We now have ample reporting from ProPublica and The Guardian that DeSantis was deeply involved in redrawing the new congressional district maps last year. According to reporting from The Guardian, DeSantis’s new map not only heavily favored Republicans, but it also cuts the number of districts where Black voters have a chance to elect a candidate in half.

In a lawsuit, the Florida GOP was accused of using a two-pronged disfranchisement strategy known as “cracking” and “packing” in predominantly Black districts. To simplify it a little, “cracking” refers to splitting a minority group amongst new districts to dilute their political power. So, for example, the new map split Black voters in Jacksonville into two different maps, diminishing their ability to pick a candidate. “Packing” is the opposite strategy. Essentially, you “pack” as many minority voters into one or two districts so you can limit the number of seats the group can get in Congress. The litigation is still ongoing, so we’ll see how that shakes out.

Gerrymandering isn’t the only attack on Black political power. Last year, the Justice Department sued the Florida GOP over new voting restrictions, which they said intentionally targeted Black voters. The restrictions caused chaos in November for Black Floridians who were worried about running afoul of the law.

DeSantis’ Attack on Abortion Rights

It’s not just voting rights that have the Black Floridians up in arms. During Black Maternal Health Week, DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban, making the procedure illegal before most people even knew they were pregnant.

The Roots spoke with Nancy Metayer Bowen, the first Black and Haitian woman Commissioner of Coral Springs, FL., about the devastating fallout we can expect from this law.

Although he hasn’t announced, DeSantis is still considered a contender for the Republican Presidential primary. The war he’s waged against Black political power and reproductive rights in Florida could be a troubling window into a DeSantis presidency.