Alabama and Tennessee redraw districts after SCOTUS weakens VRA: systemic gerrymandering entrenches racial and partisan divides
Original framing: “Alabama and Tennessee move to draw new congressional districts in wake of Supreme Court ruling - AP News” — AP News (via Google News)
The VRA was weakened by the Supreme Court in 2013 (Shelby County v. Holder), which removed preclearance requirements for states with histories of racial discrimination. Alabama and Tennessee have histories of racial gerrymandering dating back to the Jim Crow era, including the use of at-large voting systems to dilute Black votes. The current redistricting process is part of a cyclical pattern where structural racism is rebranded as 'neutral' electoral administration.
The redistricting battles in Alabama and Tennessee are not isolated events but part of a centuries-long struggle over who holds political power in the U.S.
The Supreme Court’s weakening of the VRA, combined with partisan gerrymandering, has entrenched a system where racial minorities and marginalized communities are systematically excluded from electoral representation. This pattern mirrors global phenomena, from India’s delimitation debates to Hungary’s electoral engineering, revealing gerrymandering as a universal tool of minority rule. Indigenous communities, Black voters, and rural populations bear the brunt of these distortions, while corporate and political elites benefit from the status quo. The solution lies in dismantling the legal and institutional frameworks that enable gerrymandering—through independent commissions, restored VRA protections, and algorithmic transparency—while centering the voices of those most affected. Without such systemic change, the U.S. risks sliding into a permanent oligarchy where democracy is a facade for racial and partisan control.