Affirmative Action ban now leads to redistricting challenges for black voters
Louisiana and Georgia Republicans are trying to find ways to discredit the Voting Rights Act of 1965
While generalizations should be taken with a grain of salt, I’m fairly confident that very few African-Americans are surprised by how the gutting of Affirmative Action in colleges is now traveling its way to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed by President Lyndon Johnson.
In June of last year, the conservative-leaning Supreme Court (with three judges appointed by Donald Trump) terminated race-focused admission programs at colleges and universities countrywide. Six conservative judges (a supermajority) voted against Affirmative Action practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. In Chief Justice John Roberts’ decision, he wrote that the nation's colleges and universities must use “colorblind criteria in admissions.”
Recommended Read: “UPDATED: Black students, get serious about minority scholarship applications ~ BlackTechLogy: With Affirmative Action outlawed, Republicans are trying to block black scholarships altogether”
And that “colorblindness” is now a tactic being used by Louisiana and Georgia Republicans to challenge race-based redistricting during the next election and beyond. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already rejected this legal fight over Louisiana's congressional map, but the tone has been set. The goal is clearly to start gerrymandering and redlining again, two effective (and deeply racist) ways to make sure Black votes don’t have the same power.
Ballot ban answer may affect the gerrymandering tactics
Voters are quietly waiting to see what the Supreme Court decides on February 8 in regard to Colorado and Maine removing Trump’s name from the presidential primary ballot. Massachusetts and Illinois (the latter of which has a bone to pick with Trump for not signing the state’s loyalty oath) filed motions to remove Trump from their 2024 ballots too.
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Meanwhile, Southern Republicans are using this time to quietly brainstorm about ways to largely challenge black neighborhoods at the ballot box. The college debate seems to be their inspiration.