Defending Voting Rights
Survivors of civil rights martyrs see Voting Rights Act weakened by Supreme Court rulings
Sixty years after their family members were murdered fighting for the right to vote, survivors say the law those deaths helped create is being erased. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been effectively dismantled by the Supreme Court through a series of rulings over the past dozen years, with the most recent blow landing on April 29, 2026, according to AP.
"My mother's blood is on that bill," said Anthony Liuzzo, son of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, who was assassinated by the KKK in 1965. "We were always proud of that, and now it's gone," he told AP.
Supreme Court's April Ruling Guts the Last Voting Protections
On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that drawing a majority-Black congressional district is an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander," according to MyNorthwest. The decision effectively killed what remained of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 was the last major tool allowing lawsuits against maps that diluted Black voting power.
The ruling created what legal scholars call a legal catch-22. States must consider race to comply with the VRA — but doing so now triggers a strict legal test that courts use to strike the maps down, according to Las Vegas Sun. Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, writing that the Court's path "disregards both democratic values and the rule of law."
States Moved Within Days to Eliminate Black Districts
Republican-led legislatures acted fast after the ruling. Alabama and Florida moved to reinstate previously rejected maps within days of the April 29 decision, according to KTVB. By June 2, the Supreme Court had lifted injunctions blocking those discriminatory maps, clearing the way for their use in the 2026 midterms.
Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall was blunt about the goal. He said he wanted to put the legislature in a position to draw a map that "favors Republicans seven-to-zero." Analysts warn the moves could trigger the largest drop in Black congressional representation since the end of Reconstruction, according to Durango Herald.
The Martyrs Behind the Law — and the Families Left Behind
The Voting Rights Act was born from blood. On September 15, 1963, a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killed four girls, including 11-year-old Denise McNair. Her sister Lisa McNair said, "I grew up an unwilling participant in a life-changing, culture-changing event — it's now being erased," according to WBOC.
On June 21, 1964, civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and Andrew Goodman were murdered in Mississippi while registering Black voters. David Goodman, Andrew's brother, said, "The Voting Rights Act exists because people were willing to risk everything. Weakening it disregards that history," according to WSB-TV.
Survivors Grieve but Vow to Keep Fighting
Civil rights veterans are angry but not giving up. Sheyann Webb-Christburg, who marched in Selma as a child, called the rulings "an assault on the struggle of the civil rights movement." The NAACP has labeled the current wave of redistricting "legislative Jim Crow," according to WSOC-TV.
Supporters of the rulings argue that "race-blind" maps are the only path to true equality. Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said, "The best way to end race-based discrimination is to stop making decisions based on race." But for families who lost loved ones six decades ago, that argument rings hollow. "Hate kills," Lisa McNair said. "And it's killing this law too," according to Winnipeg Free Press.
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