Southern States Eliminate Majority-Black Voting Districts After Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Rights Act

Just one week after the Supreme Court effectively dismantled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Tennessee is poised to become the first Southern state to pass a new redistricting map that eliminates a majority-Black congressional district.

The hastily drafted map abolishes Tennessee’s last Democratic-leaning district by splitting Memphis—a city that is more than 60% Black—into three predominantly white, Republican-held districts. These districts stretch hundreds of miles into rural areas, effectively silencing the state’s largest Black community. Memphis has had its own congressional district since 1923.

The redistricting plan also divides Nashville, which was already fragmented during the last redistricting cycle to secure an additional Republican seat, into five districts. This further dilutes the voting power of minority communities.

The consequences are both practical and symbolic. The city where Martin Luther King Jr. led his final civil rights campaign—and where he was assassinated—will no longer have any districts where Black voters can elect their preferred candidates. Civil rights leaders, including King’s son, have condemned the move as a return to Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement.

“Do not dismantle the only Congressional district that provides Black voters in Memphis a fair opportunity to have a voice in our democracy.”
— Martin Luther King III, in a letter to Tennessee legislators

Tennessee is not acting alone. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down a second majority-Black congressional district, at least four other Southern states—Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina—are considering new redistricting maps before the midterm elections. These changes could eliminate between four and six majority-Black districts currently represented by Democrats, significantly reducing Democratic chances of regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Voting rights advocates warn that the Louisiana v. Callais decision could lead to the largest decline in Black political representation in the South since the end of Reconstruction.

The rapid targeting of Black voters follows the Supreme Court’s ruling. Democratic State Rep. Justin Pearson, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen in Memphis’ 9th congressional district, emphasized the deliberate nature of these changes.

“This isn’t coincidental or accidental. They’re coming for Black political power in Tennessee, and Mississippi, and Alabama, and Louisiana. We’re seeing the greatest purge of Black power since the era of Reconstruction.”
— Justin Pearson

The conservative majority on the Roberts Court has overturned its own precedents to achieve this outcome. For years, the court upheld the Purcell principle, a 2006 Supreme Court case decided on the shadow docket, which barred states from changing voting laws close to an election to prevent voter confusion. Yet in December, the court reinstated a Texas gerrymander that a lower court had found discriminated against Black and Hispanic voters, arguing it was too close to the election.