The Voters Rights Act that requires Georgia to submit all plans for redistricting to the Department of Justice to ensure that it’s not racially biased is still the law, at least for now, based on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Governor Perdue issued the following statement yesterday.
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a clear signal that the Court believes Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act raises ‘serious constitutional questions.’ Unfortunately, the Court chose to rule only on the narrow, statutory issue presented. As we outlined in our brief, I believe Section 5 is an outdated provision of the VRA that harkens back to a day Georgians have worked diligently to move beyond. I believe it is time to remove the stigma placed on Georgia and several other states, as we have earned our right to be treated equally. Today’s ruling indicates the Supreme Court understands that the significant burden placed on states is based on prior conduct that is not reflective of today’s realities. I look forward to the day when this provision is either ruled unconstitutional, or, if ruled constitutional, then applied to all 50 states rather than singling out a few.”
Frankly, I have to agree with the Governor in a lot of ways. First, there is the idea that a handful of states are bound by a law that the rest of the states aren’t. Yes, Georgia and the rest of the South had a terrible record when it comes to black voters back in the day. However, racism has existed elsewhere in this nation, yet there’s no mention. When schools integrated, there was only rioting in one city…and it wasn’t Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans, Richmond, or any other Southern city, it was Boston, Mass.
Even with that , the South has maintained the label of a racist region. I’ve personally been accused of being racist based on no other reason than I was from the South (these were not people from the South making the accusation). The Voters Right Act probably hasn’t helped in that perception.
However, it’s still the law, whether we like it or not. Of course, one area I disagree with Governor Perdue on is the idea that if it’s not repealed, it should be applied to all states. It needs to go away. Period. In 2008, Obama carried three Southern states, despite the typically right leaning politics of the region. To me, that’s a sign that the times, they have a change-ed.
Still, the Court did leave the door open and indicated that the Voter’s Rights Act’s days are limited. They already made it easier for local communities to opt out of the Act, and in time it will probably go away. It’s up to the people though to make sure that it does…by recognizing that we are all equal and to ensure that everyone has an equal say in our governance. Skin color doesn’t matter for crap, and it never has. The longer we remember this and act accordingly, the few days the VRA has left.
I was born in 1964 one day after Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman were killed in Mississippi and of course the national outrage help the passage of the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act.
I am most familiar with the provision that required maximizing representation of Blacks through the congressional map-making. What is interesting to me is the long term plans of the GOP. Someone should do some homework because the Republican revolution benefited from creating new Black congressional districts in the South since heavy Black districts created neighboring heavy GOP districts (not assuming that all Blacks are Democrats.) Blacks and Republicans in the General Assembly worked together to make a congressional map that benefited those two groups and make the White male Democrat an endangered species in the congressional delegation—of course, I was ticked off because Rep. Charles Hatcher hired me in Washington.
As a moderate, I like the pre-1991 Georgia congressional delegation map because most members had to answer to a cross-section of constituents. Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama are examples of people supporting candidates who don’t look like them.
Get rid of the Voting Rights Act could be another blow to the chest of the GOP but might compel them to produce reasonable congressional candidates like Karen Kemp and Dr. Deborah Honeycutt.
.-= Slyram´s last blog ..Former Senator Sam Nunn on Results =-.
I agree with Justice Thomas that we should overturn the VRA. It is long past due. VRA places an onerous burden upon a certain group of states at the expense of others. The law doesn’t evenly apply to all of the states. WHy didn’t apply to Illinois given the history of the Daley Machine? Or better yet to Massachusetts regarding the Kennedy dynasty. I have always had problems with any law that is not evenly applied to other areas. VRA fits this mode. Repeal it and overturn it!