NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson is forcefully responding after the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district, calling the decision a direct attack on Black voters and American democracy.
“Today’s decision is a devastating blow to what remains of the Voting Rights Act, and a license for corrupt politicians who want to rig the system by silencing entire communities,” Johnson said after the ruling. His statement came after the court voted 6-3 to reject Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional map, which had created a second majority-Black district following earlier legal challenges.
The ruling marks a major shift from a 2023 Supreme Court decision involving Alabama that required a new map and expanded Black voting power in that state. Now, critics say the Louisiana decision could open the door for Republican-led states to redraw districts in ways that weaken the political influence of Black and Latino communities.
Johnson did not hold back in his response.
“The Supreme Court betrayed Black voters, they betrayed America, and they betrayed our democracy,” he said. “This ruling is a major setback for our nation and threatens to erode the hard-won victories we’ve fought, bled, and died for.”
He also made it clear that legal setbacks will not end the fight. “But the people still can fight back. Our best defense and offense is the ballot box, and we’re going to turn out voters for the midterm elections to make sure we can elect representatives who look out for us. Our democracy is crying for help.”
The decision now sends Louisiana’s map back to lower courts, where future district lines could be redrawn again before the 2028 elections. Meanwhile, civil rights groups are warning that the broader impact may stretch far beyond one state.
I have worked over 30 years in redistricting, almost all of it with the Dallas City Council Districts mandated to be single member districts in 1991. Immediately the White districts were the most compact and the miniority districts were the least compact behind a fog of allowing them to become minority. Anyone who studied the first approved Dallas City Council council map and studied Dallas demographics would immediately see the terribly un-compact minority districts were not needed to have a majority minority district!
With successful redistricting we slowly moved toward more compact districts by 2011, but then failed in our battle in 2021. Since race can no longer be an issue, we must focus on compact distructs. Compact districts will often produce minority districts, and all compact districts will statistically have higher voter turnout on average.