Case of Amnesia for the High Court : Justices seem to forget history and reality of race in America

In a devastating blow to civil rights and racial equality, the U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a Georgia redistricting plan that used race as the determining factor to draw electoral district boundaries. This decision, backed by the court’s conservative majority, is a bad one.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 seeks to give all Americans “an equal opportunity to gain public office regardless of race,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court. “That end is neither assured nor well served, however, by carving electorates into racial blocs.”

Unfortunately, the court failed to address how that equal opportunity will be accomplished and how government can redress past and current racial discrimination. Federal guardians of civil rights will have fewer remedies at hand now.

Inequality persists. No blacks have been elected to Congress from majority-white districts in the South since the passage of the 1965 voting rights legislation. And between 1900 and 1990 no African Americans were elected to Congress from Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana or Virginia despite the substantial black populations of those states. Racially polarized voting remains a given throughout much of the South.

Ironically, the justices base their ruling on the 14th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War to protect African Americans from racial discrimination and to guarantee them inclusion in political life. Now it is being turned on its head to exclude blacks. That is not equal protection.

White Democrats are likely to be the primary beneficiaries of this ruling because black voters, who tend to be liberal, will be sprinkled throughout many districts instead of concentrated in a few. This will dilute the black vote, particularly in the South.

The Georgia congressional district in the high court ruling covers 250 miles and has finger-like extensions reaching into Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah. It is represented by a black Democrat, Cynthia McKinney, one of 39 blacks in Congress. Of the 38 in the House, only three are from districts with a majority of white votes. After the 1990 census, when more blacks were concentrated in Southern congressional districts, the number of black representatives doubled in Congress. That is no coincidence; even with this, a 12% black population can claim only 7% of the seats in the House and 1% in the Senate.

Again, the Supreme Court’s majority--including Clarence Thomas, only the second black to sit on the high court--has shown its hostility to issues of deep concern to African Americans and other minorities. This will not be the court’s last word on voting rights. The justices will revisit the issue again in October when it hears appeals on black-majority districts in North Carolina and Texas.

Gerrymandering unfortunately is part of the history of this nation. The term resulted from the creation of a district by one of the members of the Constitutional Convention, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. The term refers to bunches of politicians trying to shape districts to their advantage. The Supreme Court decision fails to halt the odious practice--except, unfairly, for minorities trying to gain a political toehold.

Georgia Boundaries

The court struck down the boundaries of this Georgia district, drawn in 1992. (outlined in map)

Source: Almanac of American Politics