U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett leads ‘clapback’ conversation on MAGA, voting rights, and Black lives during CBC week

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Everyone hears the discussions centered on the importance of voting. Plus, everyone shares the challenges with convincing some Black and African-Americans to vote. But, the ‘Make America Great Again’ wing of the Republican Party is making Black Americans and immigrants the faces of illegal voting. During the 53rd Annual Legislative Conference at Congressional Black Caucus Weekend, Angela Rye moderated a conversation led by U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett about how to deal with MAGA, respond to their attacks, among other topics. 

This action of responding to the opposition during a debate is classically known as ‘the clapback.’

Joining Crockett and Rye were Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas and Christian D. Menefee, the chief civil lawyer for Harris County, Texas which is where Houston is located. 

“If I am supposed to be a representative of a group of people, and I allow somebody to walk all over me, then that’s like I’m saying it’s okay to walk over my people,” explained U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. Have you seen [U.S. Congresswoman] Marjorie [Taylor Greene] lately?” 

A Texas-sized story about the right to vote

First, the prominent Crystal Mason shared her experience of being wrongfully convicted for voting while on supervised release in Dallas. In 2016, she provisionally cast her ballot during the presidential election after completing her federal jail sentence. But, the State of Texas prosecuted Mason for the crime of “illegal voting,” the act bars someone who “votes or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows [they are] not eligible to vote.” 

Mason said the state considered her ineligible to vote at the time but was still convicted in March 2018 and sentenced to serve five years in state prison. 

“You have got to realize: the judge, the D.A., the prosecutor, and their elected officials, and this is why it is so important to vote,” explains Mason. “I grow weary. You know, ‘my God, why me?’ Why me? Say, ‘why not? You’re the prime example of rehabilitation.’ So this is why I matter in this fight.”

Mason has had the ability to converse with her Pastor, Dr. Frederick D. Haynes III, the Senior Pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett throughout her ordeal. Crockett, who herself has famously taken on MAGA Republicans, implored the capacity crowd to understand first the ways MAGA values Black lives. Secondly, Crockett explains why Vice President Kamala Harris, and Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis, are the prosecutors MAGA are afraid of. 

“One of the issues that I have right now is having to deal with people that take issue with the Vice President, because she is a former prosecutor,” explains Crockett. “Y’all, we need the findings of the world, this is one of the good ones. So was our vice president. You can’t sit there and skip the DA race, because that’s how we end up with the Crystal Masons. 

That’s how we end up with our brothers, our sisters, our cousins, all being incarcerated for little or nothing and getting the highest amount of time. Y’all got to think through this! It’s one of the reasons that they’re constantly going after our access to the ballot box. This country is actually browning, and it is scaring them, and so they want to make sure that they can take away your voice.”

There is another gentleman, Hervis Rogers. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accused him of voting while on parole in the 2020 Presidential Election. Texas Republicans tried to make two Black people the face of illegal voting in the state. That is intentional. Why? They attempted to associate corruption, illegal voting, illegal registrations with Black and Brown people, and it’s an intentional strategy to try to undermine the right to vote. 

“But make no mistake, what you’re seeing in Texas right now is something that will spread throughout the country if we put the wrong person in the White House,” says Merritt. [Also] if we put the wrong folks in Congress. In some other jurisdictions, y’all got it sweet. It’s real hand to hand combat dealing with these folks.”

Vote for every position on the ballot, not just for President

Willis supported Crockett’s point of individuals entering the ballot box, voting for the highest office in the land, and then walking out. She characterized those actions as ‘a disgrace’. Willis also says there are so many things of consequence that can be traced to who does not vote. 

“I tell people all the time I had no intentions of being a controversial D.A.,” says Willis. “I didn’t know that it was controversial to say that ‘everyone is equal under the law,’ but apparently people are okay with prosecutors that are okay with just putting Black young men in jail, but don’t hold everyone accountable to the law.”

In Georgia, Florida and Texas, for example, individuals can review anybody’s voting record and registration status if they know that person’s name, date of birth and county of residence. Willis won her election in 2020. Since then, her office has charged rapper Young Thug and former President Donald Trump under Georgia’s RICO statute. During her time in D.C., she addressed her naysayers. However, Willis made one point crystal clear.

“The first level of intimidation is, what can they call you,’ explains Willis. “So they’ll call you the D.E.I. D.A. they’ll call you a thot. They’ll call you very, very ugly things. And I’ve been called all of them, but I was taught long ago ‘it ain’t what you call me is what I answer to.’ So we as people cannot be reactive to every ignorant insult, because you’re dealing with ignorant people.”

The charge

Beyond the clapback, the call to strategize, organize and mobilize voters was heard loud and clear. In his church, Haynes gives people a membership card in one hand and a voter registration card in the other hand. The Pastor also let everyone know there is no perfect candidate. But, it’s up to the collective to push the right candidate. 

“We saw on Tuesday that if Kamala Harris was a white male, this wouldn’t be a race,” said Haynes. “It would be over. Period.  And yet, this country still has an issue with whiteness. And so as a consequence, we have a responsibility to work 10 times as hard as we do in our individual lives. We’ve got to do it as a collective.” 

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