In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that drawing electoral maps based on race is unconstitutional. Since then, there’s been a rush to redraw districts ahead of the 2026 primaries, with Southern states holding special legislative sessions to redraw their maps to remove race-specific districts.
Alabama has been in the courts for years over electoral maps. Since 2023, we have been unable to use our maps drawn after the 2020 census because a three-judge panel restricted their use.
Now Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed an emergency motion with the district court, requesting that the injunctions be lifted. Gov. Kay Ivey called the Alabama Legislature back for a special session, with redistricting expected to pass Friday.
HB1 would reinstitute the currently restricted congressional and State House maps, while SB1 would reinstitute the State Senate maps. “Both bills would authorize a new special primary election to be held if a federal court issues an order or vacates an injunction that would allow the Legislature to use the previously enacted redistricting plans for the 2026 general election,” 1819 News reported.
Time is of the essence, and district courts must rule quickly to lift the injunctions before the May 19 primary. If this happens, U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell’s (D-Birmingham) and Shomari Figures’ (D-Mobile) seats may be on the chopping block, as would State Senate seats like Kirk Hatcher’s (D-Montgomery).
From the shenanigans documented on social media, many of these elected leaders, along with black voting rights’ activists, claim that black voices and representation risk being wiped out.
"It's taking away black votes," Sewell said at one of these astroturf protests.
It's taking away democratic votes. It's unfair. We are 27% of the population; there are seven seats in Congress; we deserve two. I want you to know that this fight is not about my seat or Shomari's seat, it's about the seat of the people. [Emphasis added.]
Is it, really? Even before I moved to Alabama, I covered the state and traveled through it. My experience is that black people live, work, thrive, and make their voices heard all the time, as do many Alabamians. Sewell, Figures, Hatcher, and the whole lot, have little – if anything – to do with that, and it is doubtful that their absence would have any significant impact.
And what did Sewell mean by “we?” Having been a conservative for most of my adult life, it’s a grating assumption to say that black voices only exist in one party, and if the representative from that party gets voted out, it’s somehow a detriment to an entire people group.
While some may choose to vote according to their skin color, most of us vote on policies and self-interest. Some examples: If your political stance is for killing children in the womb, you will not receive my vote. If you seek to destroy my small business, then you will not receive my vote. Black voting power is wherever WE choose to place it, and that’s not necessarily with the representative who shares our race.
Democrat socialists like U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other leftist opportunists claim that they speak for black people. However, when black men, and some black women, refused to support former Vice President Kamala Harris for president, we heard the accusation that “not all skinfolk are kinfolk.” That certainly applies to this circumstance. Just because we share a certain degree of melanin and cultural history doesn’t mean I need representation or for you to speak on my behalf.
Sewell needs to change her argument and prepare to discuss actual policies and what she can bring to the table, not create the fake construct that she best represents black people because she’s black. Not only is this the height of arrogance, it’s also a straw man argument.
Figures does no better. In his Thursday speeches before the Senate chamber and on the House floor, Figures said:
There are two different "WEs" in that statement. There's the WE that is the now WE, the WE that should be proud of the progress, and there's the WE that's actually responsible for the progress. … These are the WEs that put the state of Alabama on its back and America on its back in achieving what we ultimately got in the Voting Rights Act.
Figures draped himself in what a fellow black conservative labels, “carcass worship,” rattling off the civil rights figures who marched in Selma and advocated for the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). But then Figures contradicted himself by saying: “I've long believed that the greatness of this country, the greatness of America has never been what we were before. The greatness of this nation is the possibility of what we can be in the future.”
If that is the case, then why is Figures opposing this? If the restrictions imposed by a racist past which precipitated the need for a VRA are no longer a factor, then why does he assume limiting (not eliminating as some claim) the VRA to exclude race as a determinant is not representative of America moving forward?
“Shomari Figures is going to be okay,” Figures said in his Senate speech. “Your voice is on the line.”
No, Shomari, it is not. But do go on.
Both Sewell and Figures take a paternalistic position suggesting that the only concern of black voters is racial representation and that we fear losing it. Therefore, we need them to make sure the forced racial districts stay in place, and based solely on the color of their skin, they are the only mouthpieces that will achieve this.
Further, because neither Sewell nor Figures can use policy or today’s voting landscape (as opposed to 1965’s) to make an argument that racially-drawn districts need to stay in place, that pretty much makes them incompetent.
The concept of majority-minority, racially-drawn districts has always been a house of cards, and like the flick of a finger, Callais has knocked it down. It’s time we move beyond this unconstitutional model to representation that embraces all voters in every district.
Jennifer Oliver O'Connell, As the Girl Turns, is an investigative journalist, author, opinion analyst, and contributor to 1819 News, Redstate, and other publications. Jennifer writes on Politics and Pop Culture, with occasional detours into Reinvention, Yoga, and Food. You can read more about Jennifer's world at her As the Girl Turns website. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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