The Supreme Court Ends Multiracial Democracy as We Know It ⎹ The Intercept Briefing

The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a fatal blow to the Voting Rights Act, triggering a new wave of redistricting fights in the midst of midterm primary elections. Last week, the court struck down a Louisiana congressional map with a second majority-Black district. The decision requires there to be evidence of intentional racism to prove that a map is discriminatory, making it nearly impossible to successfully challenge racial gerrymandering. Following the 6-3 decision along partisan lines, Louisiana suspended its already active congressional primary, throwing out cast ballots. Alabama’s Republican governor took steps to gerrymander her state’s maps ahead of November elections. Tennessee GOP leaders also convened a special session to eliminate the last remaining Democratic stronghold in the state, home to Memphis, a majority-Black city and district; the new map would split Memphis into three districts and further split Nashville and the surrounding counties into five districts. On Thursday, Tennessee Gov. Lee signed a bill that repealed a state law prohibiting mid-decade redistricting, and the new map was passed by Tennessee Republicans. “The primary goal of what they’re doing. It is to dilute Black political voting power and representation, and it’s starting at the U.S. congressional level,” state Rep. Justin J. Pearson tells The Intercept Briefing. The Democratic Tennessee state representative for Memphis is running for U.S. Congress in the district at the heart of the state’s re-districting fight. “When you look across the South, the truth is about at least a dozen seats are likely to be taken in this very racist redistricting era that we are in, but it won’t stop there,” Pearson says. “We have over 200 legislative seats in the House and the Senate that are also likely to be eliminated through racist redistricting that is happening.” Voting rights journalist and author Ari Berman says SCOTUS’s latest blow to voters’ rights is a “power grab.” This week on the podcast, Berman and Pearson speak to host Jessica Washington about how the latest Supreme Court decision bolsters President Donald Trump and Republicans’ aims to take control of voting in the country. Full Transcript: https://interc.pt/4wkf3YJ _______ At The Intercept, we investigate powerful individuals and institutions to expose corruption and injustice. We see journalism as an instrument of civic action. We’re here to change the world, not just describe it. As a nonprofit organization, The Intercept relies on donations from our readers and listeners as a key funding source for our journalism. You can help us hold the powerful to account and tell stories you won’t find elsewhere. Website: https://theintercept.com/ Subscribe to our channel: https://interc.pt/subscribe Support The Intercept: https://join.theintercept.com/donate/... Subscribe to our newsletter: https://theintercept.com/newsletter/ Follow us: TikTok:   / theintercept   Twitter: https://interc.pt/twitter Instagram:   / theintercept   Facebook: https://interc.pt/facebook Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theintercept Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theintercept... Mastodon: https://journa.host/@theintercept