One of the most powerful acts against democracy is gerrymandering which is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to create an undue advantage for a party or group within the constituency.
One primary form of gerrymandering is racial gerrymandering, which draws maps that favor White communities over nonwhite communities.
Every ten years following the decennial census, the nation undergoes redistricting. Redistricting draws state, local, and congressional district maps based on census data. The people who draw the new maps vary from state to state; some states use redistricting commissions, while others give the task to state legislators.
The redistricting process is supposed to reflect changes in the population so that every person can have the opportunity for equitable representation in our government. However, gerrymandering makes that impossible.
The redistricting after the 2020 Census was the first one without the protection of the whole Voting Rights Act (VRA), severely limited by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013. And as expected, some states took advantage of this weakening of the VRA to gerrymander Congressional districts.
States like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin reverted to their old ways, implementing racially discriminatory maps that dilute the voice of Black, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander voters, violating the remaining provisions of the VRA. According to the 2020 census, the population of Texas grew by 90 percent, yet the legislature did not draw maps that reflected this rise. Elsewhere, Louisiana legislators failed to create a second Black-majority district, limiting the voting power of Black voters.
Before the 2020 Census, Alabama had one congressional district that was majority Blackout of seven congressional districts–11.1 percent. The 2020 Census showed that the State was 27 percent Black. Yet their new redistricting map limited Blacks to one congressional district. Three groups of plaintiffs brought suit seeking to stop Alabama from conducting Congressional elections under the legislation specifying the new map—HB1. The first group was led by Dr. Marcus Caster, a resident of Washington County, who challenged HB1 as invalid under Section 2 of VRA, which specifies anti-discrimination. The second group, led by Montgomery County resident Evan Milligan, brought claims under Section 2 of VRA and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, the third group challenged HB1 as an impermissible racial gerrymander under the Equal Protection Clause.
Surprisingly, earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped back from the brink of totally gutting the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. They upheld the plaintiffs in a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kavanaugh voting with the three liberals.
This ruling upheld a 1986 precedent interpreting how legislative districts must be drawn under the landmark voting rights act, as amended in 1982. The court said that in Alabama, a state with seven congressional seats and one in four voters is black, the Republican-dominated state legislature had denied African American voters a reasonable chance to elect a second representative of their choice.
I am in Alabama, and a few days ago, I was invited to participate in a meeting of the Black Democrats of Washington County, where Dr. Marcus reported on developments surrounding the Court decision. This group also discussed the need to fight against the current gerrymandering of local voting districts. In Washington County, this was weakening Black representation.
I applauded these Black Democrats as this is the work we need nationwide to halt the restoration of Jim Crow-era politics.
