Louisiana Passes Map Eliminating Majority-Black District
Louisiana Gov. postponed a primary election already in progress to implement a redistricting effort that disenfranchises Black voters.
Black News 
In totally unsurprising news, the Louisiana state legislature has passed a new congressional map eliminating one of the state’s two majority-Black districts.
According to AP, the new map redraws Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields’s district into several predominantly white communities in Louisiana, potentially giving Republicans another House seat in the state. State legislators considered eliminating both of the state’s majority-Black districts, but decided against it as there was a strong chance it could have ultimately backfired on them.
Louisiana has perhaps caused the most damage in the ongoing redistricting battle. A lawsuit filed by several Louisiana voters alleged that the old map was racially gerrymandered in a way that discriminated against white people. While most normal people would find that statement laughable, the Supreme Court didn’t and significantly weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as a result.
That decision supercharged the redistricting race as several southern States gleefully began to draw new maps intended to disenfranchise Black voters. Shortly after the Supreme Court announced its ruling, Tennessee implemented a speedy redistricting process that eliminated the state’s only majority-Black district.
Alabama delayed several of its primary elections to try to pass a map that the Supreme Court previously found to be racially gerrymandered. A panel of federal judges found that Alabama’s map was still racially gerrymandered, a decision Alabama has appealed to the Supreme Court.
South Carolina tried to pass a redistricting effort eliminating the district represented by Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), but it failed to get the necessary votes before early voting started in the state.
South Carolina managed to show more respect for the electoral process than Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, who postponed the state’s primary elections while they were already in progress to draw the new map, disenfranchising 40,000 early voters who had their votes tossed out. Landry is expected to sign the new map into law.
Even with the Supreme Court’s ruling, lawsuits are expected to be filed against the new map. State Democrats have said the map is still racially gerrymandered, as it packs the majority of Louisiana’s Black voters into one district. Interestingly enough, the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case still think the map is unfairly racially gerrymandered because it leaves one majority-Black district in place.
No group has a bigger victim mentality than aggrieved whites in the south, I’m telling ya.
With this new map, Republicans have decisively taken the edge in the ongoing redistricting battle, having potentially put 14 new House seats in play, compared to the six gained by Democrats through new maps in California and Utah. Even with that edge, there’s no guarantee Republicans will maintain control of the House, as they are still deeply unpopular nationwide, and Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to flip control.
The fact that Republicans have spent a year redrawing maps and disenfranchising voters instead of pursuing any policy that would meaningfully lower the price of essential goods, make health insurance cheaper and more accessible, or help address the lack of affordable housing is just sad. They think they’re entitled to power despite not doing a goddamn worthwhile thing with it. Pathetic.
SEE ALSO:
South Carolina Redistricting Effort Stalls In State Senate
Latest South Carolina Redistricting Effort Targets Rep. James Clyburn
