This year, after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and kicked off a frenzy of racial gerrymandering across the South, we learned two lessons pretty quickly:
Anti-democracy forces will be ruthless in their efforts to seize unearned power. They’re more willing than ever to deny fair, equal representation to Black and brown Americans.
Fair maps activists have the power to fight back and win.
We weren’t able to hold off every new gerrymander. But I’m inspired by everyone who rolled up their sleeves to push back and achieve hard-won victories for democracy across the South:
“After the Callais decision, thousands came out to protest the states’ redistricting sessions…In South Carolina, hundreds protested at the legislature and Republican state senators joined Democrats to block the proposed map. In Mississippi, thousands rallied after special session plans were canceled. In Georgia, hundreds showed up in protest and successfully pressured Republican leaders to back down.” —Democracy Docket
Those wins are real — but could be temporary.
Map manipulators are already working behind the scenes to gerrymander again after the midterms, even in lame-duck sessions later this year before new lawmakers can take power. They think we’ll have moved on or be distracted by the midterms. They think we won’t be ready to organize against them. We will prove them wrong.
We need to do everything we can right now to be prepared. We need to sound the alarm now, mobilize activists to amplify their voices, and show broad, deep opposition to new gerrymanders.
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