The Supreme Court is poised to erase what’s left of the Voting Rights Act’s power to stop racial gerrymandering.
David compared the Court’s rightward march to “the same rollback that took Reconstruction to Jim Crow.”
Jeff said this ruling would “turn back the clock to the pre-1964 South,” erasing generations of civil rights gains.
Both warned that the only response left is civic power — showing up, organizing, and refusing to be silenced.
David Pepper described the Louisiana case before the Supreme Court as the moment democracy itself stands trial. The challenge, he said, could make it impossible to fix racially discriminatory maps — ending even the illusion of equal representation. “If they win on this,” he warned, “it means there’s no way to remedy discrimination.” The justices aren’t interpreting the Constitution; they’re amputating the very tools meant to enforce it. What’s at stake isn’t technical — it’s existential.
Jeff saw it as history repeating itself with new robes and the same intent. “The Civil War didn’t really end until 1964,” he said, “and they’re trying to start it again through redistricting.” He remembered when Section 2 protections were sacred to both parties, a shared commitment not to fracture Black political power. Watching the Court dismantle that principle feels like witnessing the unmaking of the modern republic. The map lines are just the surface; the deeper redrawing is of the country’s moral boundaries.
The deeper crisis is institutional rot dressed up as legal reasoning. When the Court uses its authority to entrench minority rule, it doesn’t just distort democracy — it replaces it. What follows isn’t debate, it’s design: Laws built to contain rather than represent, rights contingent on geography instead of citizenship. The language of “originalism” becomes camouflage for power, each decision narrowing who counts and who doesn’t.
Yet, the math still favors the many. Authoritarian movements survive by convincing the majority that resistance is futile — but it isn’t. Votes still outnumber decrees, communities still outlast the systems that try to silence them. The power that built the Voting Rights Act hasn’t vanished; it’s waiting to be used again, louder, smarter, and everywhere at once.
Tune in to the full conversation with Jeff Timmer and David Pepper.
Could the Texas Gerrymander Backfire on Republicans? | Behind the Numbers
Rick Wilson is on a crazy deadline this week, and Andrew Wilson is in transit, so Behind the Numbers on video will have to wait until next week.
