The Supreme Court's decision effectively gutting the Voting Rights Act has been described as 'red meat' to Republican legislators in the South by Bennie Thompson, Mississippi's lone Black and Democratic congressman. Conservative lawmakers in the state have explicitly threatened to redraw his district, the second congressional district, in a move Thompson says could disenfranchise Black voters.
Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson and State Auditor Shad White, both Republican gubernatorial candidates, have called for redrawing the lines. Thompson's district is nearly 300 miles long, lacking public transport, requiring him to fly to Tennessee or Louisiana to reach all parts. He noted that the current configuration was drawn by majority-Republican legislators who included rural counties never before in the district.
Mississippi is 38% Black, the highest proportion of any state, and much of that population is concentrated in Thompson's district. Historically, the state suppressed Black voters through poll taxes, literacy tests, and violence. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to a surge in Black elected officials, but Thompson fears the latest ruling will allow 'mischief' to return.
Since the Louisiana v Callais decision, governors in Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi have called special sessions to redraw predominantly Black districts. Republicans in Tennessee have already eliminated the state's only Black congressional district, while Florida's governor signed a new map. Thompson warned that the speed of these moves suggests motives less than genuine about representing all people.
