Racial Redistricting in a Post-Racial World

Authors

Gilda R. Daniels, University of Baltimore School of LawFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

The 2011 redistricting will provide some interesting challenges for minority voting rights. How can we preserve minority electoral opportunities and gains in the wake of Bartlett v. Strickland and Georgia v. Ashcroft? What is the impact on future voting rights litigation and are coalition district claims viable as an opportunity to continue the electoral gains made since the passage of the Voting Rights Act? Are majority-minority districts safe from legislative backsliding? The Supreme Court's construed admonitions against race-conscious redistricting in recent cases may become cautionary tales. This Article discusses the central role the Voting Rights Act should play in preserving minority electoral gains.

While most of us would prefer to live in a color-blind society, we live in a "second-best" world where color-conscious problems require color-conscious remedies. -Bernard Grofman

Recommended Citation

Racial Redistricting in a Post-Racial World, 32 Cardozo L. Rev. 947 (2011)