The History of a Surprising Supreme Court Ruling with the American South

Yesterday, the Supreme Court surprised many observers with a ruling an opinion which effectively affirmed the remaining powers of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The decision was a reprieve from a law that many believed was fatally weakened or in danger of being completely overruled by the conservatives in court.

The consequences of that decision will be profound. The Voting Rights Act, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, were critical steps in American democratization, and the laws remain an important institutional tool for preserving them.

To understand the meaning of this week’s ruling, you need to consult history. “Trails from Dixieby Robert Mickey, which traces the Deep South’s transition between 1944 and 1972 from what he called “authoritarian enclaves”—areas of one-party rule within a federal democracy—to burgeoning democracies with African-American voters. And “Racial rearrangement”, by Eric Schickler, shows how a bottom-up alliance of powerful labor unions and groups like the NAACP forced the Democratic Party to embrace civil rights, even if it meant losing its old power base in the segregated “solid South.”

Round off those academic works with two beautifully written books for a more general audience. “South to America”, by Imani Perry, who won the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction, explores how the history and politics of the South have shaped American identity and culture.

“The warmth of other suns‘, by Isabel Wilkerson, tells the story of the Great Migration, the movement of nearly six million black Americans from the segregated South to the industrial cities of the North. I consider it an essential addition to Schickler’s book, because those black workers were crucial to the transformation of the American labor movement, and by extension, American politics and democracy.

This week’s other big news item is, of course, the federal charges against former President Donald Trump – a strange news event because it was simultaneously memorable, unprecedented and expected by many legal experts.

My Times colleagues are, as always, the best source of up-to-the-minute, high-quality reporting. To follow live updates here.

But the question I get most often about Trump’s legal troubles is not about what happened, but about what will happen: namely, whether the criminal charges will affect Trump’s chances of winning the next presidential election.

Nobody knows the answer to that question. As I wrote this recent columnWhile institutions such as the Republican Party and mainstream media platforms have historically been powerful enough to end the careers of politicians whose actions or ideas were distasteful to the establishment, that is no longer the case. So it’s up to the voters — and at this point there is considerable evidence that many of Trump’s supporters will stand by him during scandals that would end the careers of most politicians.

Reader Responses: What you read

Soumojit, a reader in Perth, Australia, recommends “Invisible” by Paul Auster:

I am currently finishing an intensive semester at the University of Western Australia, which also coincides with winter here, and needed something to keep me warm. So I obviously gave in and decided to read another Paul Auster.

This one is called Invisible, and what I love about this novel is Mr. Auster’s masterful ability to capture the passage of time through the relationships between characters in his books, which is also reflected in this book.

What are you reading?

Thank you to everyone who has written to tell me what you read. Keep the submissions coming! I particularly enjoy your snob literature recommendations and have already started reading several of them.

I want to hear about things you’ve read (or watched or listened to) about snobs and snobbery. I’m mainly looking for fiction, but non-fiction recommendations are also very welcome.

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