The Non-Prophets 22.31.2 2023-08-02 featuring Cynthia Cynthia McDonald, Infidel 64, Timothy Bethel and Teo El ATeo
Alabama Republicans refuse to draw a second Black congressional district in defiance of Supreme Court, NBC News, By Jane C. Timm, July 21, 2023
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/alabama-gop-refuses-draw-second-black-district-supreme-court-order-rcna94715
What will be the implications of Alabama’s State Legislature completely disregarding this Supreme Court rulings, and instead passing a map that does not meet the two black majority districts? Will this set precedence for other states to do the same? One of the major impacts is on US House of Representatives, this is one way the GOP has held onto power in spite of being the minority.
Gerrymandering is when a state legislature draws up district lines to deliberately dilute groups of a populace that they are not aligned with. They are basically trying to maneuver a vote the way the party in power stays in power. They draw lines in areas in order to have result in Republican candidate winning.
Over 25% of Alabama citizens are African-American, and it has seven congressional districts. But it seems that the tireless efforts of their legislative body could only devise a way to create one majority-Black district. And a second with a 40% black population.
Using 15 previous elections as a sample, there was only one election where the numbers support a second black majority result. It’s an election where the Republican candidate was a twice-removed for misconduct state Justice who was accused of picking up and sexually assaulting underage girls.
States like Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Georgia come immediately to mind, the usual suspects. Louisiana had the same issue, but they actually got their lawsuit decided in their favor.
There was a time when reactionaries would try to see how much they could get away with when under a Supreme Court Order, they would try to just go to the edge of the line. A bit like kids in the backseat of a car on a long ride.
Maybe free vacations, use of a yacht, and free tuition for family members just doesn’t buy you what it used to. Unfortunately there are bad actors on the Supreme Court have demonstrated time and again that they don't really care about the rule of law. They care about promoting an agenda.
The large majority of people in Alabama aren't talking about this. They're so ingrained into thinking that this is normal and how things should be. To them addressing this issue with alarm is frightening to them. In their view that's just called leftism, or wokism, which is something that their churches have taught them is their enemy.
The Voting Rights act of 1965 was one of the most critical piece of legislation to guarantee the voting rights of minorities in the US. It empowered what the 14th and 15th were created to do, but lacked the teeth. This is what actually forced many of the critical changes in the South. However, the voters Rights Act was gutted in 2013.
This is not 1953, nor 1853, we are in 2023. Unfortunately, three-fifths mentality is alive and well in Alabama.
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