Supreme Court ruling takes us backwards, but how far back will we go? | Opinion
Remember in 2009, when the phrase “Take Our Country Back” first gained significant popularity in the U.S. and became a mainstream political mantra for right-leaning conservatives? Many of us were scratching our heads and asking: back from whom or back to when?
On Wednesday, when the conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling that essentially pulls teeth out of a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we may have gotten our answer: Back to before Black Americans, with their vote, could claim fair representation in the halls of government. Keep in mind the phrase took hold after the country elected its first Black president. Oops! Right?
In its ruling striking down a Louisiana redistricting map that created two congressional districts in which a majority of the population is Black, the court basically said the state was wrong to use race when it created a second majority-Black district. They called it a racial gerrymander.
What I hear in that is the conservative justices saying the 1965 measure is no longer as important as it was at the time it was established because, what, there’s no longer racial discrimination practiced in voting access?
Really? Then why, within hours of that court decision, did Georgia Republicans call for the adoption of new maps that could strip Black political representation in a state we know has a history of attempting to limit Black voting power?
In the last four years, Georgia Republicans pushed through a series of changes to voting laws, changes that Democrats have argued reduce voter access. And the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that those changes “have a larger impact on Black voters than white voters.”
I think a portion of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent in a 2013 Supreme Court ruling — Shelby County v. Holder, which eliminated the need for federal review of districting map changes and plays into the systematic dismantling of the Voting Rights Act — also applies here.
The Voting Rights Act
In an effort to explain why protections of the Voting Rights Act remain necessary, Ginsburg said: “throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.” Yes, and guess what happens: you get soaked.
A New York Times Morning analysis of the decision explained that “States are supposed to redraw congressional maps once a decade to reflect population shifts and ensure the representation of communities within a given jurisdiction.” Well, if a jurisdiction is predominantly Black Democrats, shouldn’t voters there be able to elect democratic representation that looks like them, thinks like them, has shared values? Of course. That’s why Republicans want to cut up the district, sprinkling voters from that predominantly Black district into predominantly Republican, and most likely predominantly white, districts, where the Black vote and the Democratic vote is diluted.
Wednesday’s ruling will set off what some are calling a forever redistricting war that threatens to take this country back decades when it comes to the voting power of Black Americans. Especially in southern states like, Louisiana, Alabama and Georgia.
The Star reported that “Republicans in Missouri and other states, such as Florida, have already pushed to redraw their states’ maps.”
President Donald Trump has pressured red states to gerrymander their congressional maps so Republicans can hold on to the majority in Congress. Whatever happened to governing in a way that makes voters want to have you in office, instead of all this obnoxious political gamesmanship? Gallup reports that Republican Congress’s disapproval rate has climbed to 86%, tying the record high for the institution.
Forever redistricting wars
While it’s not likely Missouri lawmakers will have time to redraw a map before the 2026 mid-term elections, Gov. Mike Kehoe, in an interview with The Star, left open the possibility of future redistricting fights in the state. This is the forever redistricting wars folks have been talking about.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, called the court’s decision “an abomination.” I caught up with the congressman Friday afternoon during an event in the Historic Jazz District, where the renovated Boone Theater was being celebrated with a grand opening.
Cleaver said the court decision, “is another step toward dividing this country and eliminating a whole race of people from having pure, undistilled access to the voting booth. “ He said he and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus believe the ruling will “create other opportunities for states to throw out their whole system of elections and then redraw the lines.”
He called for those opposed to such redistricting tactics embrace the 1960s-style protests that got voting rights laws passed in the first place.
“I think this is an assault on African American participation in the political process,” Cleaver said. “They are empowered to go as far as they can go. And if they take this route, we have to take the routes that we took in the 1960s. Take it to the streets.”
When I asked Missouri Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat, about the ruling she said it speaks to more than just Black access to the ballot box. “It says that you are afraid of us. You are afraid of improvement. You are afraid of moving forward,” said Washington, who is one of only three Black women in the Missouri Senate.
“To go back to what we were is not what makes America great again,” Washington said. “What makes America great is to honor those who look like me, who made America great the first time, and to continue to allow us to enjoy the same privileges and rights as those who lack melanin.”
