Not Just a Southern Issue: Advocates Say SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision Has Already Started to Reshape Black Political Power  

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) whose district spans parts of Los Angeles County, joined fellow CBC member U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA-2) for a May 21 briefing with Black media outlets in California. 

The lawmakers highlighted what they describe as a mounting threat to Black political representation nationwide resulting from an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened key protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.  

Kamlager-Dove and Carter warned that the decision, which narrowed the role of race in redistricting, is already reshaping congressional districts across the South and undermining Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice across the country. 

“While we are a super blue state, we have far to go when it comes to Black representation, we tend to take that for granted,” Kamlager-Dove said of California, noting that the Golden State has the fifth largest Black population in the country and only has three Black members of Congress.   

“While I support building coalitions, we have to make sure that as a Black community we are not yielding our power,” she added.

Calling the fight “not unique to the South,” Carter urged Black communities nationwide to recognize the broader implications of the legal and political battles unfolding in Southern legislatures and courtrooms. He compared the effort to a “wildfire” that could spread if left unchecked. 

The Supreme Court ruling centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the portion of the law that prohibits voting systems or district maps that dilute the voting strength of racial minorities. For decades, Section 2 allowed civil rights groups to challenge district maps that weakened Black political representation even when lawmakers did not openly state discriminatory intent.

Now, advocates fear that standard has fundamentally changed. 

“You have to have smoking gun evidence,” said Mitchell Brown, senior voting rights counsel at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, during a recent media briefing hosted by American Community Media on May 15. “Legislators are not going to say the quiet part out loud.” 

Brown argued the decision effectively forces voting rights groups to prove intentional discrimination rather than discriminatory impact — a much higher legal bar that civil rights advocates say lawmakers can easily avoid through race-neutral language. 

The implications could stretch far beyond congressional elections, Brown said.  

Section 2 protections have historically applied not only to U.S. House districts, but also to state legislatures, school boards, county commissions, judgeships, and local governing bodies. Voting rights advocates warn that weakening those protections could reshape political representation throughout the South, particularly in states with large Black populations. 

“This is not just a Southern issue,” said Amir Badat, manager of Black Voters on the Rise and voting special counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “We had the protections of Section 2 across the entire country protecting districts that serve Hispanic communities, Native American communities, and communities of color broadly.” 

Badat described the current moment as part of a much longer historical pattern. 

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, constitutional amendments expanded Black citizenship and voting rights across the South, leading to dramatic increases in Black political representation. But those gains were quickly met with violent backlash and the rise of Jim Crow laws designed to suppress Black voting through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other “race-neutral” restrictions. 

“This is the exact same move,” Badat said. “States said, ‘We won’t say we’re discriminating against Black people, but that will be the effect of what we do.’” 

Advocates say they are already seeing the consequences play out. 

In Louisiana, lawmakers rapidly moved to redraw congressional maps after the ruling. According to Devante Lewis, public service commissioner for Louisiana’s 3rd District, the proposed changes would reduce Black congressional representation from two majority-Black districts to one. 

At the same time, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry suspended congressional elections already underway after more than 42,000 ballots had reportedly been cast. 

“The governor said those votes will not count,” Lewis said. 

Lewis described the situation as “mass confusion and chaos,” with voters uncertain whether elections were still happening, whether ballots would count, and whether district lines would continue changing before Election Day. 

In Alabama, organizers pointed to similar uncertainty surrounding election schedules and congressional districts following ongoing litigation tied to Allen v. Milligan, another landmark voting rights case. 

Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty 

Law Center, warned that the country could be entering what he described as a “second post-Reconstruction era.” 

“It would take another 115 years for Alabama to see a Black congressperson after Reconstruction ended,” Dees said, drawing parallels between the modern legal landscape and the decades-long disenfranchisement that followed the collapse of Reconstruction in the late 1800s. 

Advocates also emphasized that the consequences of weakened voting protections extend into everyday life. 

Local elected offices such as school boards, city councils, county commissions, and judgeships often determine funding priorities, public safety policy, education standards, and infrastructure investments. Speakers warned that reducing Black representation on those bodies could have lasting effects on issues ranging from school discipline disparities to housing policy. 

“These are not abstract numbers,” Badat said. “These have real political consequences and policy consequences on people’s day-to-day lives.”