The Supreme Court has all but killed the law that helped kill Jim Crow

[dalton99a]

Last edited Thu Apr 30, 2026, 01:28 AM - Edit history (1)

https://www.ms.now/opinion/louisiana-callais-voting-rights-act-supreme-court-black-voters

The Supreme Court has all but killed the law that helped kill Jim Crow
The Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and opened the door to racial gerrymanders across the South and Southwest.
Apr. 29, 2026, 8:42 PM EDT
By Stacey Abrams

The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a direct hit to the heart of the Voting Rights Act and to the fragile promise that every American’s vote should carry equal weight. The VRA ended Jim Crow. Full stop. With this decision, it’s open season — once again — on Black and brown voters at the ballot box.

In 2023, the Supreme Court instructed Alabama to finally draw fair maps to create two majority-Black constitutional districts to allow Black citizens a shot at equal representation. Today, that same Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts are unconstitutional — and in doing so, gutted Section 2 of the VRA, opening the door to racial gerrymanders across the South and Southwest.

Let’s first understand what the VRA is. After the Civil War, the 13th Amendment banned slavery (mostly). The 14th Amendment granted birthright citizenship (for now). And the 15th Amendment barred the federal government and the states from denying the right to vote based on race, color and servitude (in theory). But until the fairly recent year of 1965, the 15th Amendment was routinely ignored by Southern states using the legal mechanism of Jim Crow.

Poll taxes, literacy tests and language restrictions were the most visible tools of voter suppression. However, Black voters who successfully navigated those hurdles still faced the ignominy of not having a real choice. Hostile political regimes drew the boundaries of voting lines and districts to make it impossible for Black and brown voters to elect anyone who represented their interests. Enter the Voting Rights Act.

Section 2 of that act made it illegal to design districts to dilute or block racial communities from finding common cause. It also required a corrective action: When populations routinely boxed out of meaningful participation hit a certain threshold, political districts should reflect their growing power. Thus, political leaders couldn’t use maps as weapons to permanently silence the voices of people of color.

...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/29/us/supreme-court-voting-rights#civil-rights-leaders-see-the-voting-rights-ruling-as-a-betrayal