The South Rises Again?

The Impact of Virginia’s Supreme Court Gutting the Voting Rights of Thousands

As recently as 1965, the United States enforced mandatory state segregation via what was known as “The Jim Crow Laws,” so named in reference to American performer and playwright Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice’s portrayal in blackface of the character named “Jim Crow, which he used to mock and perpetuate derogatory stereotypes of enslaved Black Americans in the 1830s. Rice was a noted racist, often now being considered a central figure in the history of American racism, popularizing and profiting off of his blackface persona of “Jim Crow,” pushing the image of the black man as an ignorant buffoon, dressing in rags during his performances.

State and local “Jim Crow” laws served to enforce segregation not only public facilities and schools but also required separate cars or sections for passengers on buses and trains, banned interracial marriage and cohabitation, restricted or outright banned Black families from moving into white neighborhoods, but also cut into the voting rights of people of color. The Southern states rewrote their constitutions to require literacy tests, poll taxes, and even ‘grandfather clauses” to prevent Black people from voting. The laws were struck down through the landmark decisions of several notable civil rights cases and legislation, namely Brown vs. Board of Education (1954), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act marked the final end of codified Jim Crow laws, ending the enforcement of legal voter discrimination.

“What I want to do is this. I just want to find, uh, 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state." – Donald Trump, to then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, January 2nd, 2021

Arguably, the moment that revealed Trump’s position on finding votes by any means necessary can be traced to his January 2021 call to Brad Raffensperger. During the call, Trump falsely suggested that Raffensperger could have committed a criminal offense by refusing to overturn the state's election results. Legal experts have suggested that Trump's behavior and demands could have violated state and federal laws. This action was actually cited as an article of impeachment against Trump during his second impeachment.

Ever since, Trump has worked state officials to redraw voting districts, attempting to “gerrymander” states to favor Republican voters at a time when his poll numbers are rapidly sinking and even support within his own voting demographic appears to be waning as a direct result of his misguided economic policies and his “war of choice” on Iran. The Iran War itself has proven to be one of the biggest factors in the failure of Trump’s economy and diminishing devotion of his once rabid adherents. Serving to raise the cost of gas for the average American by 50% (as of mid-May 2026), it has also raised the cost of fertilizer approximately 30% to 80%, produce (up to 40% for some items), meats (2.7%), and other goods such as coffee, sugar, vegetable oil, and chocolate, mainly because of higher transport and refrigeration costs. These increases in costs disproportionately affect Midwest and Mountain states, many of which are “red states.”

Trump believes that by forcing red states with governors loyal to him to gerrymander voting districts, he can turn what appears to be a blue tsunami heading his way for the midterm elections into a more easily dealt with trickle. On July 15th, 2025, Trump began pushing Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional maps to create more House seats favorable to him. As a result of Trump’s demands, Texas lawmakers redrew their maps, an early “mid-decade” move, despite having already redrawn them in 2021. In direct response to this, California swiftly put together Proposition 50, enacting new, legislatively drawn Congressional district maps, which will be used for the 2026 primary and general elections. These maps, unlike those in Texas, were presented to voters transparently to decide if they would be used. By contrast, Texas’ redrawn maps – which would have increased Republican seats from 25 – 13 to a potential 30 – 8 – were blocked by a federal court citing they were created specifically to disenfranchise people of color.

These actions started the Gerrymandering War between red and blue states, presided over by Trump. Since the skirmish involving Texas and California, seven other states (Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah) have moved forward with redrawing their maps. Multiple other states attempted, and failed, in their redistricting efforts for several reason…but the primary reason centers on the Virgina Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a voter-approved effort via Louisiana v. Callais (consolidated with Robinson v. Callais).

“Virginia voters have spoken, and tonight they approved a temporary measure to push back against a President who claims he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress. Virginians watched other states go along with those demands without voter input—and we refused to let that stand. We responded the right way: at the ballot box.” - Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger

On April 21, 2026, voters in Virginia – in response to Trump’s exhortations to red states to redraw their maps – voted overwhelmingly to approve their own mid-decade redistricting plan with the goal of boosting Democrats’ chances of winning four additional U.S. House seats in the 2026 mid-term election cycle. The constitutional amendment backed by voters bypassed the bipartisan redistricting commission to allow the use of new districts drawn by Virginia’s Democratic-led General Assembly, potentially helping Democratics win as many as 10 seats. Republicans immediately lodged a legal challenge arguing the General Assembly failed to follow required constitutional procedures…which a Tazewell County judge agreed with, blocking the amendment, forcing supporters of the amendment to file an appeal with the Virginia Supreme Court.

Influenced by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais concerning racial gerrymandering and redistricting in Louisiana following the 2020 United States census, the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the new congressional map approved by voter referendum just 17 days prior. The decision was a 4 ─3 majority, hinging on a single vote, and angering critics for ignoring the popular vote of the people of Virginia.

"The rush to silence Black voters ahead of the 2026 election is stone cold racism. It's Jim Crow 2.0." - Governor Gavin Newsom

So, how does Louisiana v. Callais relate to Virginia’s redistricting battle?

Louisiana v. Callais weakened the Voting Rights Act (VRA) by striking down Louisiana's map with a second majority-Black district as an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander" and came down shortly before the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision. It relates to recent Virginia redistricting disputes by removing federal protections that previously forced states to create minority-opportunity districts, thereby allowing for more aggressive gerrymandering that could affect future Virginia maps. When the Virginia Supreme Court was considering the case brought against Virginia’s redrawn maps, the seven justices used this decision as a reference to make a statement by ruling against the will of Virginia voters, claiming that voters were not given the opportunity to participate in the amendment process per Article XII, Section 1, of the Virginia State constitution. Their ruling effectively reinstates the original map configurations which critics, including The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), argue disenfranchised over 3.1 million voters and disproportionately impacted Black voters by maintaining maps that “pack and crack” minority communities, reducing Black political representation…heralding the possibility of “Jim Crow 2.0.”

What’s Next?

There is no sugarcoating this. The decision by the Virginia Supreme Court delivers a painful blow to Democrats chances to flip seats this coming November. But all is not lost. The Iran War, Trump’s obsession with honoring himself by destroying American landmarks in order to build monuments to himself, the meteoric rise in inflation that appears to be getting worse each day, the instability of the stock market, the increase and frequency of protests against the administration and its growing number of court losses as it works overtime to push unpopular agendas onto communities, and Trump’s cratering polling numbers are just some indicators that a majority of Americans are unhappy – and growing more unhappy – with Trump and the spineless Republican party that continues to enable him.

“Raise up your ear, I'll drop the style and clear/It's the beats and the lyrics they fear/The rage is relentless/We need a movement with a quickness/You are the witness of change and to counteract/We gotta take the power back” – Rage Against the Machine, Take The Power Back

There is still time. Everyone must show up and show out. It will not be easy…but then nothing worthwhile ever is. Vote and encourage anyone and everyone to do the same, no matter who difficult it might become to do so for some.

Ever wonder what you would do if there was another American Revolution? Wake up...you're doing it now.

Fight. Vote.