Passed in 1965, the Voting Rights Act requires states and municipalities in the South to "pre-clear" any changes in their voting or election standards with the Justice Department in Washington. In 2006 Congress reauthorized the legislation, voting to extend the provision for another 25 years. The case the court ruled on yesterday was brought by a North Austin water district who claimed that the law it was unfair and outdated.
In writing the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts said,
We are now a very different nation” than the one that first passed the Voting Rights Act. Whether conditions continue to justify such legislation is a difficult constitutional question we do not answer today.
Justice Roberts went on to say
The historic accomplishments of the Voting Rights Act are undeniable... Things have changed in the South. Voter turnout and registration rates now approach parity. Blatantly discriminatory evasions of federal decrees are rare. And minority candidates hold office at unprecedented levels.
Oh no he didn't. He might as well have said, "Come on people, we have a Black President. Isn't it time to just remove 'end racism' from our national to-do list? What else can we do?"
The Supreme Court rules on individual cases using a slew of criteria, including many legal precedents, doctrines, and interpretations that I am not equipped to argue about. But the important issue here is not the legal rationale used to uphold the law; the important issue is the court's declaration about racial equality and equity that is dangerously close to a stance that minimizes the important role race and racism continue to play in our culture.
A recent piece on ColorLines.com illustrates that as much as White Americans want to pat ourselves on the back for electing a Black President, a closer look at the election results paint a picture of a nation still mired in a racist ideology. And as much as I love The South, there are significant geographical differences in voting paterns. Quoting from the ColorLines piece,
Exit polling discovered that between 84 and 88 percent of whites in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana voted for John McCain. In Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, the McCain white vote ranged from 76 to 73 percent. In other words, the white vote in the former slave states remained about what it was during Reconstruction. Overall, Obama won 46 percent of white women and 41 percent of white men, but not in the South, which, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, is “moving contrary to the rest of the country.”
The NAACP released a statement commending the court's decision to uphold the law, but made sure to draw a distinction between their organizational view on racial progress and that expressed by the high court.
Benjamin T. Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP said,
While some may think that voter discrimination is a thing of the past, it is clear that it is not. Jim Crow might be dead but James Crow Esquire is alive and well, and while we may not see fire hoses and police dogs any longer, [but] they have been replaced by false emails and polling station trickery.
Hilary O. Shelton Vice President for Advocacy and Director of the DC Bureau of the NAACP added,
When Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights act of 1965 in 2006, they compiled more than 16,000 pages of documentation and head from scores of witnesses in support of Section 5 and its continued relevance. We are very pleased that the Supreme Court ruled to keep this crucial provision [Section 5] intact.
Evidence of voter intimidation and voter discrimination are ongoing throughout our country. From thousands of people being turned away from the polls in 2000 in Florida, to the Ohio controversy in 2004, and even to polling place problems in St. Louis during the past election, it is important now more than ever that Section 5 remain intact. The Supreme Court did the correct thing and protected all people of color from voter discrimination and ensured that their voices will be heard.
It is extremely important that we not lose sight of the fact that a great deal of racism exists in our culture today. It's not hard to find examples of the manifestations of racism today, with acts of voter intimidation being merely one such example.
We must keep the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on the books and not be lulled into complacency because we elected a Black President. We need to remember that while the results were not as close as the previous two elections, Senator McCain was the nominee of a party in deep turmoil whom the public rejected in Senate, House, state, and local races.
Though he wasn't personally running, the fact that President Bush is a Republican can not be overstated. He was wildly unpopular at the end of his term, as evidenced by historically low approval ratings. Senator McCain is not President Bush, but the fact that they are members of the same party, the party that at the time of the election many publicly blamed for the problems facing the country, must be critically examined in terms of how the election played out. And the fact that the Democratic nominee was not a White man is crucial in understanding what the elction results said.
Instead of basking in the celebration of electing a Black President (though he's really mixed-race or bi-racial, but that's a whole other discussion) and using it as a justification for tearing down all legal protections for people of color, we should realize that the fact the election was ever in doubt is more telling than the results.
And isn't it time we reexamine this whole states' rights thing? How much pain, anguish, and exacerbation of inequality does this outdated concept need to impose before we finally evolve to the point of just chucking this shit?
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