Racial Gerrymandering Is a Bad Idea Whose Time Has Gone

The Supreme Court takes up segregated political maps, a temporary remedy that has lingered on

By Jason L. Riley. Excerpts:

"In 1940, 87% of blacks lived below the poverty line. In 2023 it was less than 18%, and the poverty rate for black married couples was 6.5%."

"According to 2020 census data, there are more than nine million black people with incomes above the white median."

"Liberals insist that every provision of the Voting Rights Act is as necessary today as it was six decades ago. But times have changed for the better, thankfully, and the real reason that liberals oppose modernizing the statute has nothing to do with protecting the black franchise, which was the original intent of the law. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), “the Voting Rights Act of 1965 employed extraordinary measures to address an extraordinary problem.” Unfortunately, today’s Democrats won’t acknowledge that it’s no longer 1965."

"Citing data on black voting patterns in recent decades, the court concluded that the formula, which hadn’t been updated since 1972, was outdated. Liberals derided the ruling and accused the court of “gutting” the Voting Rights Act. But the positive black voting trends cited by Chief Justice Roberts have persisted. An empirical analysis of black voter participation since the decision by economist Kyle Raze found that “the removal of preclearance requirements did not significantly reduce the relative turnout or registration of eligible Black voters. If anything, Black turnout may have increased relative to white turnout in covered jurisdictions after Shelby.”"

"In 1964, a year before the Voting Rights Act passed, black voter registration in Mississippi was less than 7%, the lowest in the region. Two years later, it was nearly 60%. Black voter registration in the South today is higher than it is in other parts of the country, and black voter registration nationwide has been rising for the past three decades."

"black voter turnout peaked with the elections of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, when it exceeded the white turnout rate. In 2016 it receded somewhat, but only to the pre-Obama norm. In 2020 black turnout was the third highest on record, behind 2008 and 2012. It declined in 2024, but so did turnout for whites and Hispanics."