A conservative friend here in Alabama messaged me with a screenshot of the latest 1819 News item about State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) and her challenges against the candidacy of Alicia Escott Lumpkin, the woman who overtook Givan’s claim to the House District 60 seat in the recent primary election.
“Why do we care?” my friend asked.
I explained to my friend that while the situation did involve “palace intrigue,” it also exposes a larger issue: Democrat black legislators really only care about black voting power when it suits their aims. The minute it doesn’t, they use their power to try and suppress others, including other blacks.
In Louisiana v. Callais, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it is unconstitutional to create districts based solely on race. This launched Alabama’s challenges to overturn a lower court ruling which prevented the state from using the 2023 un-gerrymandered maps.
Since then, Givan and her caucus have been crying about black voting power and silenced rights.
“If [black politicians] can infight like this, then their voice is not being silenced – at least not by non-white voters,” I told my friend.
Givan has put this on full display. After the Callais decision and the subsequent Supreme Court decision ruling in Alabama’s favor, Givan wrote the following formal statement in ALpolitics.com.
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.
Here we go.
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.
What Givan has not explained is what “white supremacy” has to do with this battle between herself and Lumpkin.
I believe it has absolutely nothing to do with it. After all, it was primarily black voices and voters who chose Lumpkin over Givan. How does the canard of white supremacy play into this?
Givan then weighed in on Justice Clarence Thomas, who concurred with the majority opinion in Callais, and who helped steer the challenges which led to dismissal of the lower court decision on the maps.
I must also speak directly to my profound disappointment in Justice Clarence Thomas.
…
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.
Why does Givan fail to see that her challenge to Lumpkin’s candidacy is the same act of bad faith for which she is accusing Thomas? The black community Givan claims to represent made it resoundingly clear that she was not doing her job and voted her out. The primary results of 52% to 34% are a pretty clear mandate for Lumpkin. The people made their voices heard, expecting that their voices would be honored. Givan’s challenges are nothing more than an effort to, as she so eloquently said, “dilute Black voting strength and silence communities already struggling to be heard.”
So, Thomas is not the problem. Givan is.
If the “Great Alabama Maps Battle of 2026” has revealed anything, it has laid bare the caliber (or lack thereof) of so-called black leaders. Givan’s less-than-decorous theater during that special session on the maps helped seal her fate.
Givan was one of the lawmakers who had to be dragged out of the State House chambers as they protested the majority vote to use the 2023 maps. Givan took to Facebook to further rail against Thomas, and her words were not so eloquent:
‘This mf'er, this man, this Uncle Tom, this Uncle Tim…and I'm so pissed and I said this today…this black man right here, I don't know what kind of black he is. I don't know what damn plantation this man came from. I don't know what slave ship he was on. I don't know what part of the slave ship he was on,’ Givan said on Facebook on Monday.
Givan’s language is not just arcane and emotionally overwrought, but absolute nonsense. The people of House District 60 had enough and let Givan know through their vote.
But Givan refuses to go gently into that good night. With her battles against Lumpkin, Givan is trampling on those black voices she claims she wants to protect, showing that she does not care one whit about her district, their black voices, or their power to enact change.
What Givan does cares about is her power, and she’s using what little she still has to ruin the career of another black woman while silencing black voices in the process.
Nothing supreme about that, white or black.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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