Alabama, once the epicenter of the voting rights movement, is once again at the center of the conversation of racial discrimination in voting. A panel of federal judges ruled Thursday, May 8, that Alabama deliberately went against court orders and engaged in racial discrimination by refusing to create a second majority-Black congressional district.
Federal court rules in favor of Black voters, civil rights groups
A federal court permanently blocked Alabama’s 2023 congressional map, ruling it violated the Voting Rights Act. The legal battle centers around a congressional map drawn by Alabama lawmakers after the 2020 Census. The map, which split the state into seven districts, was criticized for drawing six of those districts to consist of majority white voters, despite Black residents making up 27% of the state’s population.
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The 1965 Selma to Montgomery march is a defining moment in Alabama’s Civil Rights Movement. Led by figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the march followed the violent “Bloody Sunday” incident.
The Supreme Court allowed the map to be used for Alabama’s 2022 midterm elections but said it was unlawful, citing a lack of representation for Black voters. Despite this, Alabama lawmakers passed a new map a year later, maintaining only one majority-Black district.
The lawsuit, filed in 2021 by a coalition of Black voters and civil rights groups including the NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries, was backed by the ACLU and other legal teams. After a second trial, the federal judges ruled that the state intentionally ignored the law. They ordered that the map must now include two majority-Black districts.
The ruling draws on the historical challenge Black Alabamians have faced in securing political representation, explaining, “No other Alabama congressional district has elected a Black candidate in approximately 150 years, until District 2 elected Shomari Figures in 2024 under a court-ordered map.”
The court determined that the map used in Alabama’s 2024 election should now serve as the standard for future elections.
In response, the plaintiffs issued a statement saying, “This win is a testament to the dedication and persistence of many generations of Black Alabamians who pursued political equality at great cost. We stand on the shoulders of our predecessors.”
Voting Rights Act of 1965
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to eliminate racial discrimination in voting, was a key part of this case. By the end of 1965, more than 250,000 Black voters had been registered, and by 1966, only four Southern states had less than half of their Black population registered to vote.
The court’s ruling effectively bans the map used in Alabama’s 2023 elections and will reshape the state’s congressional districts moving forward. However, the judges acknowledged the progress in the treatment of Black residents in Alabama in recent years.
