Opinion | The Betrayal of Black Voters Threatens Our Democracy

The sweeping effort to dismantle Black-majority congressional districts in the South will have far-reaching consequences for all Americans, and for our democracy.

The New York Times

#Black Americans have carried extraordinary burdens in the #UnitedStates, not only to exercise their own rights but also to make the country a #democracy. The #VotingRightsAct, passed in 1965 & strengthened in the decades that followed, had protected them from #RacialGerrymandering that divided them across multiple districts to blunt the impact of their votes. This was just one of a multitude of tactics Southern officials used to limit Black #suffrage & stifle competition during #JimCrow.

#law

In more recent years, an increasingly ideological #SCOTUS began issuing rulings that weakened the #VRA. On April 29, SCOTUS’ 6–3 conservative majority eviscerated much of what was left of the #law, effectively saying that the #legislation Americans marched, bled & died for decades ago was no longer necessary. Congressional maps that diminish the #Black #vote are now acceptable, acc/to the court, so long as state lawmakers *say* they are drawing them on the basis of partisan advantage & not race.

@Nonilex

In their Shadow Docket ruling overturning the Alabama District Court panel ruling requiring the state use the Court’s map with 2 majority minority districts because the state intended to racially discriminate, they eliminated even this fig leaf.
They have not just murdered the VRA, they have erased the 14th Amendment.
https://journa.host/@chrisgeidner/116686462247272829

Chris Geidner (@[email protected])

Overnight, the U.S. Supreme Court’s Republican appointees made it all but impossible to successfully challenge any redistricting map for diluting the votes of or even intentionally discriminating against minority voters. Read all about it at Law Dork: https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-alabama-colorblind-redistricting

Journa.host