Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing voting districts in order to manipulate election outcomes, has plagued American democracy since this country’s infancy and continues to rear its ugly head to this day.
Described by the Brennan Center for Justice as “a thorn in the side of democracy,” gerrymandering hijacks the redistricting process — meant for balancing population counts and ensuring compliance with the Voting Rights Act — flipping elections on their head and allowing politicians to choose their voters.
There are a handful of cases of modern gerrymandering as glaring as the district maps drawn by Alabama’s Legislature. Some cases are so glaring, in fact, that one of the most conservative U.S. Supreme Courts in recent memory was unable to find a justification for their legality. In June, the court ruled that the state’s congressional map violated the civil rights of Alabamians and specifically undermined the electoral power of Black voters.
Now, there is quite literally no higher court in the land than the Supreme Court of the United States, so of course the Legislature conceded and redrew the map in accordance with the ruling, right? Wrong. Instead, on July 21, the Republican Legislature spat in the face of our democratic institutions and presented yet another congressional map that minimized the power of Black voters.
The Grand Old Party’s finest cartographers accomplished this strategy by corralling the majority of Black Alabamians into a single cleverly drawn district, leaving them underrepresented in the rest of the state’s seven districts. Therefore, only one of seven districts represents the interests of Alabama’s Black constituency, despite Black Alabamians making up a quarter of the state’s population.
It sure is funny how the same Legislature that wishes to outlaw the teaching of accurate historical narratives surrounding racial discrimination is also hell-bent on silencing the voices of Black voters. Go figure.
Indeed, Alabama’s politicians are so intent on minimizing the voice of Black voters that they are willing to completely relitigate a case that has already failed once on the largest stage possible. The Legislature is bringing the case back to court, attempting to justify a 39.9% Black district as satisfying the Supreme Court’s mandate of a second district where Black Alabamians make up a majority of the constituency or “something quite close to it.”
Conservatives love to cry over fiscal responsibility when it comes to providing social safety nets to the most vulnerable Americans but are more than happy to expend seemingly unlimited capital on a legal battle that is already settled. This Legislature treats dismantling civil rights like a video game boss battle: just keep trying until you win — or, rather, until democracy loses.
If it had not already been clear, neither this Legislature nor Gov. Kay Ivey, who approved the latest district map, cares about the true will of the people in Alabama. In fact, they care about the exact opposite. They care about establishing an illiberal democracy where they can uphold the facade of fair representation while, in actuality, hoarding power and silencing dissent.
Anyone who claims to be a patriot, to care about the principles this nation was founded upon, or to have a vested interest in preserving democracy cannot in good faith stand behind the actions of Alabama’s state government. This is a devastating threat not just to the civil rights of Black Alabamians, but to the very bedrock of our democracy.
