Confederate "Heritage" Month 2021, April 20: The soul of Jim Crow goes marching on in voter suppression laws

Steven Wright explains some of the continuity betwee Jim Crow voter suppression measures directed against African-Americans in the 19th and 20th with their direct descendents in the 21st, like the recently adopted Georgia voter suppression law (Voter suppression bills are the first move in a bigger battle The Hill 04/18/21):

In the past, federal law provided safeguards to prevent legislatures from going too far in this direction [of voter restrictions]. Section Five of the Voting Rights Act, for example, required states like Georgia to receive federal approval of their redistricting plans. Indeed, in 1972, 1982, 1992, 1995, and 2001, the federal government or the federal courts objected to at least one of Georgia’s redistricting plans because the plan diminished the power of Black voters. Georgia isn’t an isolated example. As recently as 2017, federal courts have concluded that Texas Republicans intentionally discriminated against Latino and Black voters. But in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, eliminating this approval process, and destroying African Americans' strongest weapon to combat attacks on their political power.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision, prominent African Americans have pursued several initiatives to combat the threat of discriminatory gerrymandering. Stacey Abrams, who served in the Georgia House during the 2011 redistricting, launched Fair Fight, in part, to combat the anticipated discriminatory redistricting process. Eric Holder, former U.S. attorney general, chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a political action committee that tries to counter discriminatory gerrymandering in swing states.

The twin assault of Georgia’s current voting restrictions and its upcoming racial gerrymandering represents merely the first wave of a larger effort to diminish African American voting strength. [my emphasis]