Alabama is the latest state to eliminate a predominantly Black congressional district.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala), the former Auburn University football coach, declared that “woke” is dead.
The term “woke” originated in the Black community to urge people to be aware of systemic racism and oppression.
Although “woke” will never die, the United States Supreme Court succeeded in killing a predominantly Black district in Alabama and eliminating a Black voice from the halls of Congress.
Grady Martin and Nina Totenberg of NPR reported, “The ruling means that Alabama’s 2026 midterm elections will feature six Republican-leaning districts and one Democrat-leaning one, as opposed to a map with only five safe Republican seats. Democrat Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, will likely lose his seat as a result of the high court’s ruling.
“The story of Alabama’s congressional map is long and tortured. It began in 2021, when the state implemented a new map to account for population changes in the census. The map featured only one majority-Black district out of seven, even though the state is one-quarter Black.
“Voters immediately sued, claiming the map illegally diluted minority votes in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. Lower court judges agreed, ruling that the state must draw a map with two districts where Black voters have a realistic chance of electing their candidate of choice. The Supreme Court more than once has ordered Alabama to draw a compliant map.
“But the state has refused and continued to litigate the case. On Tuesday, that tactic paid off.”
Tuesday’s victory for White Alabama Republicans comes after the Supreme Court outlawed drawing maps to benefit racial minorities.
What the ultra-conservative Supreme Court, with three justices appointed by President Donald Trump, did was outlaw states from drawing maps to benefit Black people, while allowing states to draw maps to benefit White people.
To create a so-called colorblind Congress, the Supreme Court has made it O.K. to create a one-color Congress.
And that one color will be White in Republican-led states.
While Black people can still vote and run for office, the Supreme Court basically ensured that no one who looks like them will have a good chance to win a congressional race in a red state because of the way the maps will be gerrymandered.
The only Black representation will come from Democrat-led states.
Therefore, when Black Alabama residents have concerns about racism, they will likely not have an empathetic congressperson to voice their concerns to.
“The Supreme Court’s decision gives cover to Alabama and others to deliberately and openly discriminate against Black voters without fear of any consequence. The Court’s shameless decision to reinstate a racially discriminatory map defies any thoughtful or consistent application of the law,” said Deuel Ross, director of litigation at the Legal Defense Fund, in a statement.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision “debases the democratic process” and “corrodes the rule of law by rewarding Alabama’s gamesmanship and outright defiance of court orders.”
However, Alabama Republican leaders celebrated the ruling.
In a statement, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said, “For too long, Alabama has been denied the full measure of its sovereignty by judges who insist on treating our state as though it never moved beyond the 1960s. No more. We have the same right as any other state to draw our congressional maps according to our legitimate districting objectives, without being held to a different and more burdensome standard by federal courts.”
But some Black Americans have said the new maps prove why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was necessary because Alabama is going back to the 1960s with all White congresspeople.
Before President Trump’s re-election in 2024, many Black activists warned the community of the dangers of a second term and Project 2025.
Nevertheless, Trump was still able to make inroads with many Black male voters because of his perceived “strength” and the belief that they would earn more money under a second Trump term versus former Vice President Kamala Harris.
In June of 2024, Golden Herring of RegalMag.com wrote, “Leading up to the 2020 presidential election, many people from various races began communicating about systemic racism and police brutality, vowing to change the racial dynamic in America in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.
“As a result, many Republicans started an anti-woke campaign, which made it more difficult for schoolteachers to accurately teach about America’s racial history, which has led many educators and school board members to lose their jobs.
“However, the Heritage Foundation has said that Americans have suffered because of left-wing political policies.
“Therefore, Project 2025 would change the role of government and make it in the image of the hard right.”
In addition to eliminating Black voices, Trump’s demand that Republicans redistrict is a blatant effort to influence the midterm elections, which typically go towards the opposing party of the president.
With Trump’s low favorability ratings, the GOP would probably suffer crushing defeats in November without the redistricting efforts.
Therefore, if the GOP is successful in November, redistricting would have allowed for Trump to go unchecked in the last two years of his presidency, which is something that he wants because he has said he wants to be a dictator.
If Democrats are successful in November, he will be held accountable for ignoring the Constitution and ignoring checks and balances.
Many people are calling the 2026 midterms the most important in generations.
Therefore, stay woke.
