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(Black PR Wire) The National Organization of Blacks In Government, Inc. (BIG) joins civil rights organizations and Supreme Court Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson in denouncing the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais as weakening protections of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, Black and other minority communities across the country are facing the weakening of their political power and minority representation.
The VRA was enacted in 1965 to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution and prohibit actions that disenfranchise minority votes. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Kagan summarized the important history of the VRA:
Even after the Fifteenth Amendment banned racial discrimination in voting, state officials routinely deprived African Americans of their voting rights. Through a seemingly boundless array of mechanisms – most of them facially race-neutral and among them the drawing of district lines – States either prevented Black citizens from casting ballots or ensured that their votes would count for next to nothing.
Justice Kagan also noted:
The Voting Rights Act was meant as the corrective. And when this Court construed it too narrowly – insisting that a person suing under Section 2 had to prove discriminatory intent – Congress amended the law so that it turned solely on discriminatory effects.
In contrast, the recent Supreme Court decision requires parties to show intentional discrimination before triggering VRA protections. This standard is disturbing because many past discriminatory practices targeting Black voters (such as poll taxes, gerrymandering and literacy tests) didn’t specifically mention race. The Supreme Court decision turns a blind eye to this history and the VRA’s role in securing voting rights for Black citizens and other minorities.
The Supreme Court decision, Executive Order directing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to verify voter eligibility for federal elections, and efforts to end mail in voting, could significantly limit the political power of Black communities for years to come.
The time to act is now with swiftness and urgency! Each of us must be passionate about securing democracy and our rights. This passion is needed to preserve our legal protections and way of life.
We must act now to:
- vote in every election at all levels of government,
- encourage and help young people, seniors, and others in our communities to vote, and
- support legislation that protects voting rights such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
As former First Lady Michelle Obama once said, “The only way to bring change is to vote for it.”
Source: Blacks In Government, Inc. (BIG)