Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with a donation.

The U.S. Supreme Court has effectively gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining major provision of the landmark 1965 law that was a crowning achievement of the civil rights movement.

In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, a majority of justices ruled Wednesday that Louisiana must redraw a congressional map that was designed to create a second majority-Black district in the state, where African Americans have long faced racial segregation and barriers to voting. They said the electoral map “relied too heavily on race,” an interpretation that is set to usher in another wave of redistricting across the South to help Republicans win more seats in Congress.

“This is central to whether or not we maintain a multiracial democracy in this country,” says lawyer and civil rights activist Maya Wiley, head of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She calls Wednesday’s ruling “a free pass to discriminate.”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: We begin today’s show looking at the U.S. Supreme Court’s gutting of a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On Wednesday, in a 6-to-3 decision, the court struck down Louisiana’s voting map that was designed to create a second majority-Black district in the state, where African Americans have long faced racial segregation and barriers to voting. The six conservative justices on the court ruled Louisiana’s map, quote, “relied too heavily on race” and unfairly favored Black voters over white voters.

AOC Calls on Dems to “Play by Same Rules” Republicans Do on Gerrymandering

In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan described the ruling as the, quote, “latest chapter in the majority’s now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act.” Kagan warned that the ruling will give states the power to draw congressional maps to disenfranchise voters of color. She wrote, quote, “Minority voters can now be cracked out of the electoral process.”

AMY GOODMAN: Republican politicians rapidly seized on Wednesday’s ruling. The Washington Post reports Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry told Republican House candidates he plans to suspend the May 16th primary election so state lawmakers can pass a new congressional map first. Meanwhile, in a special session on Wednesday, Florida lawmakers approved a new congressional map designed to give Republicans four additional U.S. House seats in the midterm elections in November.

On Wednesday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus gathered to condemn the Supreme Court ruling. This is Alabama Congressmember Terri Sewell.

REP. TERRI SEWELL: Today, the far-right Supreme Court has dealt a devastating blow to our democracy and to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It will pave the way for the greatest reduction in representation for Black and minority voters since the years following Reconstruction. What the court did today makes it easier for bad state actors to silence the voices of Black voters and harder to challenge the discrimination in court. … With this decision, the extremists on the Supreme Court have completed their decadeslong crusade to gut the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They willingly dismissed generations of legal precedent, of congressional intent and the will of the American people. In doing so, they had given a green light to Donald Trump’s partisan voter suppression scheme. Instead of responding to the will of the people and changing course, Trump and Republicans are trying to erode our democracy and suppress the vote to escape accountability at the ballot box. They’re looking to steal the election. And we in the Congressional Black Caucus say, “No.” CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS: No. REP. TERRI SEWELL: We say, “Hell no!” CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS: Hell no! REP. TERRI SEWELL: Not without a fight. I am a daughter of Selma, Alabama, and I grew up in the shadow of the civil rights movement. The foot soldiers who marched across that bridge were my neighbors, my church members, my parishioners and my babysitters. I am here to tell you that the progress secured by those foot soldiers is being erased before our very eyes. And we say, “No!” CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS: No! REP. TERRI SEWELL: We say, “Hell no.” CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS MEMBERS: Hell no. REP. TERRI SEWELL: Not on our watch.

REP. TERRI SEWELL: Today, the far-right Supreme........

© Truthout