KIFA’s Statement on the Callais Decision

We at KIFA condemn in the strongest possible terms the US Supreme Court’s decision that setting aside “majority-minority” congressional districts is an unconstitutional infringement of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

This decision, in Louisiana v. Callais et al., completes the Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), a landmark piece of legislation that guaranteed that racist state governments could no longer infringe on African Americans’ right to vote. This was the most important success of the people-powered Civil Rights movement, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s crowning achievement. It is not too much to say the USA didn’t become a democracy until the passage of the VRA.

The VRA was renewed nearly unanimously in 2006, which reflected Congress’ will in face of ongoing infringements on minorities’ voting rights. But yesterday the far-right Supreme Court continued its attack on this important legislation, which started with the Shelby decision in 2013, declaring the pre-clearance provisions of the VRA unconstitutional. The Court continued its Orwellian redefinition of Constitutionally guaranteed political rights to mean exactly the opposite of what the drafters intended: in this case, using a constitutional provision clearly intended to grant Black people political rights to reinforce a racialized caste system where only white Republicans are allowed to have representation. As previously with gun laws, campaign finance laws, and religious freedom, the Court is “legislating from the bench” to force massive political changes in this country that would never be approved through the normal legislative process.

The result of this decision will be that Black voters in southern states, who make up a third of the population of some of those states, may no longer have any representation in Congress. Along with political gerrymandering, which the Court has already approved, the Callais decision disenfranchises millions of people throughout the south.

This decision rivals the premature end of Reconstruction of 1876 as a targeted attack on both the voting rights of Black and Brown people and the very concept, the very possibility, of America as a multiracial democracy, which so many have fought and died for, and that we fight for today. It’s part of the current white supremist onslaught taking place in this country, and we do not and we will not accept it.

We call on Congress to pass legislation restoring the Voting Rights Act, outlawing gerrymandering, and guaranteeing all Americans the right to vote, and to have the representation of their choosing. In addition, the power of this rogue, hyper-partisan, and corrupt Supreme Court must be curtailed.

In the meantime, KIFA will continue to fight for our vision of an America and a world where all of God’s children have equal protection under the law. It’s a vision that has never been fully actualized in this country, but we keep to this vision as the “promised land” of what the US could and should be – and with our continued efforts, will be.