Voting rights case could diminish Black representation in Congress

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00:00The Supreme Court heard a challenge to the Voting Rights Act Wednesday.

00:03Its decision could change the way states draw congressional maps

00:07and in turn impact minority representation in Congress.

00:10The Constitution prohibits intentional discrimination.

00:13The pending decision is cause for concern among black members of Congress

00:17whose seats were created by the landmark civil rights law.

00:20If states can pick and choose which voters to silence, none of us are safe.

00:25That's right.

00:26So here's how this case got here.

00:30Louisiana's legislature drew a new congressional map in 2022

00:34that only had one black majority district out of six total seats in the House of Representatives.

00:39Black residents sued, arguing the state should have two black majority districts

00:44since 30% of the state's population is black.

00:47They won.

00:48The state redrew the map to include two black majority districts.

00:51Then another group of state residents sued, arguing the second black majority district

00:57violates the Constitution's 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause

01:00and the 15th Amendment, which prohibits race-based voter discrimination.

01:05Here's what lawyers arguing against the new map told the justices.

01:08The Constitution prohibits intentional discrimination.

01:11It's saying that you have to create a district for black Democrats

01:14that you would never create for white Democrats in a Republican state.

01:17It's essentially being used as a reverse partisan gerrymander on purely racial grounds.

01:23And that is a constitutional problem.

01:25The case revolves around Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,

01:28which essentially says minority groups have a right to elect a representative of their choosing.

01:33This is what lawyers arguing in favor of the two black majority districts said would happen

01:38if the court further alters the Voting Rights Act.

01:41I think the results would be pretty catastrophic.

01:44If we take Louisiana as one example,

01:48every congressional member who is black was elected from a VRA opportunity district.

01:53We only have the diversity that we see across the South, for example,

01:58because of litigation that forced the creation of opportunity districts under the Voting Rights Act.

02:04This decision is being made by the Supreme Court,

02:07but it will directly impact the folks who work across the street.

02:10And for black members of Congress, the Voting Rights Act is personal.

02:13For so many of us here today, Section 2 is why we stand before you as members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

02:22Congresswoman Terri Sewell is sponsoring the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act,

02:26a bill that would expand upon the Voting Rights Act preclearance provision,

02:30which requires states with a history of racial discrimination to get approval from the federal government

02:35before new voting laws or electoral districts can take effect.

02:38She's criticizing the challenge to Louisiana's second-majority black district.

02:43And now they are back in the Supreme Court trying to legalize discrimination against black and minority voters.

02:50The stakes couldn't be higher.

02:53For decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has served as a critical tool to fight back against discrimination

02:59and to ensure that minority communities are fairly represented.

03:03The Congressional Black Caucus members hope the Supreme Court will uphold Section 2,

03:07but if they lose, they're preparing to take action.

03:10That while the Supreme Court may render a decision that's antithetical to our best interests,

03:15they don't have the last word.

03:16They do not.

03:17We are the we and we the people.

03:19That's right.

03:20We have the last word.

03:21And we are not going to take this lightly.

03:24I'm Ray Bogan for Straight Hour News.

03:26For more unbiased reporting straight from our nation's capital, download the SAN app.

03:30For more and more, visit our website at the

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