The Rev. Emanuel Cleaver III wants a second Civil Rights Movement in response to President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans who are redrawing congressional district boundaries to increase their power in Washington.

In Missouri, the GOP's effort comes at the expense of Cleaver's father, Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, and many of his Kansas City constituents who fear a national redistricting scramble will reverse gains Black Americans won two generations ago and leave them without effective representation on Capitol Hill.

"If we, the people of faith, do not step up, we are going to go back even further," the younger Cleaver told the St. James Church congregation on a recent Sunday, drawing affirmations of "Amen" in the sanctuary where his father, also a minister, launched his first congressional bid in 2004.

Trump and fellow Republicans admit their partisan intent, emboldened by a Supreme Court that has allowed gerrymandering based on voters' party leanings. Democratic-run California has proposed its own redraw to mitigate GOP gains elsewhere.

Yet new maps in Texas and Missouri -- drafted in unusual mid-decade redistricting efforts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections -- are meant to enable Republican victories by manipulating how districts are drawn. Civil rights advocates, leaders and affected voters say that amounts to race-based gerrymandering, something the Supreme Court has blocked when it finds minority communities are effectively prevented from electing representatives of their choice.

"It's almost like a redistricting civil war," said NAACP President Derrick Johnson, whose organization is suing to block the Texas and Missouri plans.

In redistricting lingo, it's called "packing and cracking." Those maneuvers are at the heart of Trump's push for friendlier GOP districts as he tries to avoid reprising 2018, when midterms yielded a House Democratic majority that stymied his agenda and impeached him twice.

Because nonwhite voters lean Democratic and white voters tilt Republican, concentrating certain minorities into fewer districts -- packing -- can reduce the number of minority Democrats in a legislative body. By spreading geographically concentrated minority voters across many districts -- cracking -- it can diminish their power in choosing lawmakers.

The elder Cleaver, seeking an 11th term, said the Trump-driven plans foster an atmosphere of intimidation and division, and he and fellow Kansas City residents fear the city could lose federal investments in infrastructure, police and other services.

"We will be cut short," said Meredith Shellner, a retired nurse who predicted losses in education and health care access. "I just think it's not going to be good for anybody."

Missouri's U.S. House delegation has six white Republicans and two Black Democrats. The new map, which could still require voter approval if a referendum petition is successful, sets the GOP up for a 7-1 advantage.

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe says the new map better represents Missouri's conservative values. And sponsoring Rep. Dirk Deaton says it divides fewer counties and municipalities than the current districts.

"This is a superior map," the Republican legislator said.

Cleaver's current 5th District is not majority Black but includes much of Kansas City's Black population, yielding a coalition that's elected him to 10 terms. New lines carve Black neighborhoods into multiple districts. The new 5th District reaches well beyond the city and would make it harder for the 80-year-old Cleaver or any other Democrat to win in 2026.

Ashley Sadowski, a mother of 7- and 11-year-olds, is white but lamented the splicing means she'd cross district lines simply driving her children to school.

"Politicians are denying our children the unified voice they deserve in D.C.," she said. "This risks their ability to access the federal resources they need to succeed. Whoever drew this map might have understood political calculations, but do you really think it's fair to our kids?"

The congressman agreed.

"If somebody's elected to represent areas of the school district, and they are alien to the attitudes and goals of the people who live there and attend the Kansas School District, they can't possibly be helpful," he said.

Black voter concern grows over Trump's redistricting push