THE SUPREME COURT’S WAR ON BLACK VOTERS

By: Roy Douglas Malonson

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was supposed to be the promise that America would never go backward — that the sacrifices made in Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham actually meant something. It was the law that turned tears and blood into ballots. But sixty years later, that promise is hanging by a thread, and the U.S. Supreme Court looks ready to cut it.

At the center of the storm is a case out of Louisiana. On paper, it’s about how congressional districts are drawn. In reality, it’s about whether Black voters will still have a fair voice in their own government. For generations, the Voting Rights Act protected that voice. It forced states with racist histories to stop rigging the system through redistricting and voter suppression. But if the Court rules the wrong