‘Surgical racism’: North Carolina’s new map that ices out its only Black congressman ignites outrage

Republicans in North Carolina were slammed by critics who described the new congressional map as “morally wrong on all fronts.”

A new congressional map passed by North Carolina Republicans has caused outrage amid a nationwide redistricting strategy demanded by President Donald Trump that is primarily targeting Black members of Congress.

The 1st Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Don Davis, North Carolina’s only Black congressman, has been redrawn to become an unwinnable seat for Democrats. The district, comprised of many Black rural voters, has elected a Black Democrat since 1992.

“We’ve seen this pattern before: it’s what I call surgical racism with surgical precision — the use of redistricting and voting laws to divide, diminish, and deny. But the truth is simple: when you steal people’s representation, you steal their healthcare, their wages, and their future,” said civil rights leader Bishop William J. Barber II, who is the head of Repairers of the Beach and is national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

“That’s why we will fight back — in the courts, in the streets, and at the ballot box — to make clear that in North Carolina, and across America, the people’s will cannot be gerrymandered out of existence.”

Davis, who has served in Congress since 2023, slammed North Carolina’s new congressional map as “one of the darkest moments in our state’s history” and “morally wrong on all fronts.”

“While families in eastern North Carolina face real struggles and concerns, our state has prioritized passing a new congressional map that affects only our region, with the intention of predetermining the outcome of an election 377 days away,” Davis said in a statement.

The congressman also called out Republicans for not allowing enough of a forum for North Carolina voters to express their opinions about the map, which was only made public a week ago. Members of the public were given only one minute to speak at committee hearings, reports NC Newsline.

Congressman Davis said Republicans offered “limited public participation by those affected” and ignored “the voices of those who did participate.”

He added, “Still, I remain committed to ensuring every voice in eastern North Carolina is heard no matter how the lines are drawn.”

Bishop Barber, a longtime advocate for voting rights, said of the limited public feedback, “If they won’t hold public hearings, we will.”

“This is our Edmund Pettus Bridge moment,” said Barber, referring to the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, also known as Bloody Sunday. He added, “We will fight back in the courts, in the streets, and at the ballot box—Black, white, and brown together—because our democracy is not for sale.”

North Carolina’s redrawn map follows Texas’s similarly redrawn lines in August, which gave Republicans an advantage in next year’s midterm elections at the expense of districts that had majority Black and Latino voters. Although maps are historically drawn every ten years following the U.S. Census, Republicans are taking the unprecedented move to conduct mid-decade redistricting at Trump’s request. A president has never led such a public campaign to ensure his party holds on to power in Congress.

The map in Texas is already being challenged in federal court as a violation of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. A case currently at the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana v. Callais, could effectively kill the Voting Rights Act. It would also give Republicans unfettered power to continue drawing maps that dilute the voting power of Black and Brown voters.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin slammed North Carolina Republicans, who he said “bent the knee to Donald Trump.”

“Donald Trump rigged North Carolina’s map even further because he knows his disastrous first year will cost him the 2026 midterm elections. His ‘signature’ policy priority, the Big Ugly Bill, kicks almost half a million families off their health care in North Carolina and puts five rural hospitals on the brink of closure,” said Martin.

The DNC chairman added, “Democrats won’t stop fighting Trump’s attempts to cheat because every North Carolinian deserves fair representation.”