by Ashley Marshall, Co-Founder and Brittany Cheatham, Director of Communications with Forward Justice
As America approaches its 250th birthday, we can look around us and see all the ways our democracy and society have been enriched by becoming more inclusive. Yet, recent regressions in law and policy are attempting to cement us to a reality where only wealthy, white men have a voice, a vote, or access to political power. Attacks are not happening in isolation; they are coordinated attempts to silence the people and destroy the bedrock of our democracy to keep its promises from being truly realized.
Last week, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Lousiaina v. Callais, a 6-3 ruling along ideological lines that struck down Louisiana’s congressional map that added a second majority-Black district, and in doing so, gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Then, on May 6, the Supreme Court shot down a request to delay the order. We cannot be more clear: this was not a ruling about one state’s map. It marks a fundamental shift in the constitutional understanding of equality, voting rights, and officials’ power to wage “lawfare” against their constituents. We see this ongoing erosion of voting rights by all branches of government, and instead of upholding the constitution and ensuring checks and balances, this court continues to eviscerate precedent and progress, demonstrating their allegiance to party over people.
For over four decades, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act operated on a clear principle: when electoral systems produce racially discriminatory results, they violate federal law, even when proof of discriminatory intent is absent. Congress amended the VRA in 1982 to make this clear because they knew that lawmakers who want to suppress Black votes rarely announce it.
Thirteen years ago, in Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court stripped the federal government of the ability to block discriminatory voting changes before they could take effect, and promised that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act would remain a safeguard. That safeguard is now effectively gone. Since the Shelby decision, for over a decade, the North Carolina General Assembly has waged a death by a thousand cuts campaign against voting rights in the state- always under the cover of administrative process, election integrity, or partisan fairness. A federal court found that North Carolina’s redistricting plan was one of the largest racial gerrymanders ever encountered, and their voter suppression legislation was found to target Black Americans “with almost surgical precision,” in our lawsuit, NAACP v. McCroy.
In NC NAACP v. Hirsch, our photo voter ID lawsuit in North Carolina, voters were told that the Voter ID Exception Form would be a safeguard for those without IDs. Now that a court has issued a ruling in the case, officials are working to eliminate that exception form. We continue to see this same ploy: Remove protections under the guise of “race-neutrality,” point to insufficient remedies as solutions, and then strip away those remedies. What remains in the wake of this scheme are entire communities- taxpayers, parents, essential workers- who are shut out of their democracy and silenced, although they continue to be the core of their communities.
Ignoring the impact of race is a continuation of decades of racist disenfranchisement and centuries of white supremacy and policy violence, aimed at the very people whose forced labor built — and continues to build — this country. We cannot be “race neutral” in a country that was founded on racist ideology and expect true progress, equity, and repair. There must first be acknowledgment, but what we continue to experience is erasure, disregard, and persistent devastating harm.
Without federal oversight and protections, instead of changing their deeply unpopular policies, officials are methodically changing their electorate. They are attempting to handpick their voters so they can remain in power while silencing those who disagree with them, and our courts continue to uphold this assault at every level. Instead of dogs, water hoses, poll taxes, and batons, the tools of suppression today are gerrymandering, voter ID requirements, and legislation like the SAVE Act. The targets have always been the same: Black and brown voters, poor people, women, students- the very people whose organizing has driven the most transformative change this country has ever known.
We know the South drives policy and change throughout this nation, and we have been here before. Some of the most transformative policies in this country have come from the organizing done right here in the South. An Analysis by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter found that the Callais ruling could eventually lead to a redistricting wave that could help Republicans flip as many as 19 majority-minority seats currently held by Democrats. This ruling has cleared a path for this dangerous practice to spread across the South and beyond, but we will continue the legacy of Southern organizing that has always moved this nation forward.
We launched the POV NC tour to connect with, educate, and empower voters across this state in the face of exactly this kind of assault. We heard from people in counties across North Carolina who all want the same thing: to be heard, and to have officials who enact policies that are just, equitable, and for the people. These are not unreasonable expectations; they are the foundational promise of democracy. We are still fighting unfair maps right here in North Carolina. We are still fighting photo voter ID. We filed an appeal the same day this ruling came down, and we are not stopping.
Fear of the people and fear of being accountable to the people are driving this wave of “lawfare” and policy violence. Many elected officials know they cannot win based solely on their policies and results, so they are changing the rules. They are more focused on power and gamesmanship than the needs of the people, and they know we can see through the facade. Their fear is its own acknowledgment of our power and progress.
Our democracy is on life support because of relentless attacks from the very people who are supposed to uphold and steward it. But we know that it has always been the power and work of the people to heal, rebuild, and reimagine when those in power fail us. This fight is not over. Full, equitable access to our democracy is our right. We will continue building power and resources in our communities. We will continue to mobilize and demand accountability. We will rise from the ashes of the democracy they are trying so desperately to burn down, and we will build anew- and that new democracy will be rooted in humanity, equity, and most of all, love.
