1. United States
2. Maine
3. Letter

Dear Senator Collins, Will you speak out to condemn the blatant racism and capricious application of the law that we have just witnessed in the South? In the past, you publicly declared your commitment to equal dignity for all as a reason for your party affiliation. You have, in the past, run for reelection to the Senate touting your commitment regular order in Congress. And in past years, you have shared pictures of yourself with the late John Lewis, whose courage during the civil rights movement is an example we still need. And you have claimed to celebrate and admire him. Now your past words and claims are being put to the test. I write to ask you whether you will speak out against the blatantly racial gerrymandering carried out in Alabama, Lousiana, Tennessee and elsewhere this week. As you know: Tennessee is dismantling its only Black-majority Democratic district in Memphis. Alabama is pushing through gerrymanders while votes have already been cast. South Carolina Republicans are openly discussing redrawing maps to eliminate the state's only Democratic-held seat. I hope I can expect a reply to this letter and I hope that you understand these are matters of utmost gravity to be unequivocally condemned. This is not a time for ineffective concern. Even in kindergarten we learn that you can't change the rules in the middle of the game. Now that is exactly what SCOTUS, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee are doing. There clearer case for the necessity of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 than how quickly southern states moved to eliminate Black-majority districts and dilute Black power after SCOTUS eroded Section 2. SCOTUS's reasoning was immediately disproven by reality. Silence is compliance. Will you accept a reimposition of racial oppression and confederate state imposed injustice? Is this the USA you stand for? Or will speak out and use all the means at hand to oppose this damaging hate-filled tide of racist exclusion and destruction of the equal dignity you claim to cherish? I have received almost no replies to my communication with you, which is a source of disappointment and concern. I have written to you about a grave and urgent matter. I hope I can count on a reply. No reply will show me that my senator is compliant with racial gerrymandering, exclusion, and bigotry.