LARRY ELDER: Race Based Mapmaking Is Racist

The Supreme Court is considering a Louisiana redistricting case that could have a greater impact on U.S House of Representatives seats than the Texas and California “gerrymandering” maneuvers combined.

The New York Times wrote, “Democrats would be in danger of losing around a dozen majority-minority districts across the South if the court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act.”

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller tweeted, “How many people just realized that Dems had as many as 20 extra seats based on years of unconstitutional race-based gerrymandering?”

For the purpose of “racial justice” under the Voting Rights Act, Democrat legislatures and politicians created several “majority-minority” districts in order to elect black and Hispanic congressional members. The Supreme Court will rule on whether these districts violate equal protection under the Constitution.

ACLU Voting Rights Project Director Sophia Lin Lakin, who supports these majority-minority districts, said: “Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been a critical tool in safeguarding the promise that people of color can participate in our democracy on equal terms. It has been our shield against discriminatory maps and our answer to laws designed to suppress the vote. Congress passed the Voting Rights Act with overwhelming, bipartisan support — and reauthorized it again and again — because our leaders understood a fundamental truth: you cannot cure discrimination by pretending it doesn’t exist.”

NAACP lawyer Janai Nelson told the court, “It was clear that, regardless of party, white Democrats were not voting for black candidates whether they were Democrats or not. We know that there is such a significant chasm between how black and white voters vote in Louisiana that there is no question that even if there is some correlation between race and party, that race is the driving factor.”

The Supreme Court decades ago in Shaw v. Reno (1993) and Miller v. Johnson (1995) ruled against districts where gerrymandering by race was the dominant factor. “Ethnic cleansing!” cried Jesse Jackson after the Miller decision. Elaine Jones of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said, “The noose is tightening.” Her colleague, Theodore Shaw, warned that once this decision goes through, the Black Congressional Caucus “could meet in the back seat of a taxicab.” But of the black House members in the four redesigned majority-white Southern districts who decided to run for reelection, three won. One chose not to run.

In 2016, the city of over 100,000 population that most voted for Donald Trump, with 80% of the vote, was Abilene, Texas, a city that is over 75% white. Shortly after Trump’s election, Abilene voted for its first black mayor. Black Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) recently said: “Myself, Wesley Hunt, Burgess Owens, John James — we are all black men who represent majority-white districts (referring to Texas, Utah, and Michigan, respectively.) Tim Scott is the United States senator from South Carolina. South Carolina does have a strong black population, but it’s a predominantly white state. These are the facts.” America’s three largest cities, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, all have black mayors though none of these cities is majority black. There are many examples of blacks elected to statewide offices in a country where no state has a majority black population. These include Sens. Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Carol Moseley Braun and Cory Booker, as well as Govs. Doug Wilder, Deval Patrick and Wes Moore.

About the 2008 presidential election, Obama’s principal rival for the Democratic nomination was Hillary Clinton. Obama was attempting to become the first black president, while Clinton was attempting to become the first female president. On the Republican side, the two primary rivals were Mitt Romney, who would become the first Mormon president, and John McCain, who would become at 72 the oldest elected president.

In February 2007, Gallup found that 5% of Americans said they “would not vote for” a black presidential candidate; 11% “would not vote for” a woman; 24% “would not vote for” a Mormon; and 42% “would not vote for” a presidential candidate who is “72 years of age.” So, Obama’s hurdle was the lowest.

As for the Supreme Court, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.) calls Republican-appointed jurists “often underqualified or completely unqualified for their role.”

Nothing says qualified quite like a bartender-turned-congressional candidate. And AOC got elected, proving yet again that despite America’s “systemic racism,” there’s hope.

Larry Elder is a bestselling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on X @larryelder. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

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