One of the most destructive tactics in American politics is the use of race as a weapon to avoid serious debate. Race has become powerful in public life not because every dispute is actually about discrimination, but because the accusation itself carries enormous moral weight. Once a person, policy, court ruling, or political movement is labeled racist, the debate often ends before the facts are examined. The public is pushed to stop asking whether the argument is true and start asking whether disagreement places them on the side of Jim Crow, segregation, or white supremacy.

Most decent Americans do not want to be associated with racism. They understand that racism is evil, that the country’s history includes serious injustices, and that those injustices should not be dismissed. But that very instinct is now being exploited. 

When Democrats and progressive activists cannot win an argument on the merits, they often attach race to the disagreement and turn a policy dispute into a moral accusation. Calling someone wrong requires facts. Calling someone racist requires only a label powerful enough to make people afraid to respond.

This strategy has become especially clear in the debate over redistricting. In Tennessee, Democrat lawmakers and commentators have attempted to present a........

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