Posted on 06/25/2013 5:26:10 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The fate of the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court may hinge on whether it's right.
"Is it the government's submission that the citizens of the South are more racist than the citizens of the North?" John Roberts, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, asked that in February during oral arguments over the fate of the Voting Rights Act, a 1965 civil rights law. Donald Verrilli, the government's chief lawyer, said no. Not surprisingly, the Obama administration was not willing to assert that citizens in Southern states were statistically more likely to hold racist beliefs. Without making such a claim, though, it was harder for the government to defend the VRA's requirement that some states—but not others—seek federal approval (which lawyers call preclearance) before changing their voting laws. The eight states that are required to seek preclearance are determined by a formula intended to pick out areas with a history of discrimination. (Places that go for 10 years without discriminating can escape the requirement.) But if all states are equally racist (or not racist), why not treat them equally?
Certainly plenty of people outside of the South are racist, and plenty of people in the South are not. But here's the trouble: there's social science evidence that, 150 years after the Civil War, Southern states do have bigger racism problems than states outside the South. And many of them are the same states that the VRA requires to seek federal approval before changing their voting laws.
The key study on this subject is new. In May, Christopher Elmendorf and Douglas Spencer—law professors at the University of California-Davis and the University of Connecticut, respectively—released a paper arguing that the list of states required to obtain federal approval under the VRA "remarkably" mirrors "the geography of anti-black prejudice" in the United States. "What we have generated," Elmendorf says, "is an answer to the question that the chief justice asked during oral arguments and [Verilli] was either unable or unwilling to answer." The answer, they argue, is yes.
Elmendorf and Spencer used data from the 2008 National Annenberg Election Survey, which asked non-blacks to rank their own racial group and blacks regarding intelligence, trustworthiness, and work ethic. Respondents ranked their racial group above blacks by an average of 15 points in each of these categories, perhaps proving the Avenue Q claim that "everyone's a little bit racist." Elmendorf and Spencer, however, only counted a person as "prejudiced" if he thought his racial group was more superior to blacks than the average person—and only if he thought so in two or more of the three categories. That is, a respondent could think his race was a lot better than blacks and still not count as racist under their methodology.
The results were striking: the researchers' mathematical model suggests that of the seven states in the country with the highest percentage of people who are biased against black people, six are Southern states—Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina—required to seek federal approval for election law changes under the VRA. Arizona and Alaska, the other two states required to get the feds' permission before changing their election laws, ranked much lower in anti-black bias. But as Elmendorf and Spencer note, these states are presumably required to seek that permission because of other bias—anti-Latino in Arizona and anti-Native American in Alaska—which their study did not measure. (Besides the eight states mentioned above, the VRA requires some counties and municipalities in seven other states to seek federal permission to change election rules.)
The researchers crunched the data several different ways to make sure they were getting valid results. But "whichever approach you pick, the Deep South states are close to the top," Elmendorf says.
Elmendorf and Spencer's study may have come too late: The Supreme Court is widely expected to strike down the portion of the VRA that governs which states are and are not required to seek the feds' permission to change their election rules. If that happens, Congress will have to come up with new rules to determine which states this section of the VRA should cover. If lawmakers decide to embrace Roberts' implication that states with more racist attitudes should receive special scrutiny, Elmendorf and Spencer's study suggests they could end up with a list of VRA-covered states that looks a lot like today's.
At the micro level, the racists in the south are now the ones with dark skin. Just like everywhere else in this country.
Well these are the states that had massive numbers of slave owners in the 1800’s and attitudes have been passed down from generation to generaion To quote Hillary, “What difference does it make.!”
There were slaves and indentured servants in all 13 states, IIRC.
If you keep picking at a scab the wound never heals.
But then, that is the point of the constant bombardment of stories about race from the media and other lefties.
Isn’t it?
Let me ask my chained up field slave his opinion, right after I have sex with my house keeper.
Mother Jones is an extreme left website. I trust nothing they publish there.
Unfortunately, the feral government wants to pretend like they are anyway so they can be kept under the feral government thumb.
This study is based on fantasy liberal lore - IOW tell a lie often enough and it becomes the defacto truth.
“mirrors “the geography of anti-black prejudice” in the United States.”
Which was very well earned by their own thug criminal behavior and lives of irresponsibility en masse. Not knocking the good black people at all. I have no problems with them. They are people of inegrity and character and i respect that.
There is lots of evidence that black folk are racist against others.
Black folk are even racist against other blacks, noting how some of them are darker than others.
Physician, heal thyself. Blacks today could learn a lot from Dr. King about not judging each other by the color of their skin. That is, those blacks who have not skidded into the baby mama culture and the ghetto gang culture. Dr. King is turning in his grave at the state of much of black America.
” racists in the south are now the ones with dark skin”
I may be wrong, but I’m betting any study of racism neglects to include anti-white racism.
Notice that only non-blacks were polled. For a true study, the professors should have measured racism with the demographic makeup.
Of course, the answer would have not justified their preconceived notion. So, by all means continue The War of Yankee Aggression.
This is comparing apples to oranges.
The north has not had the black population density that the south has. If one lives in an area of low black population, he is not nearly as likely to be as prejudiced as one who lives in high density black areas, sometimes as high as 50+%.
I grew up in Memphis when it was 60w/40b. It was a very well run city with many awards, such as the nations best fire department, and all three utilities, light, gas, and water under one roof.
Now it is 60b/40w. The blacks have taken over all elements of government, basically destroying the city.
I have been told that all three utility systems have been sold off to companies outside the state.
My families did own slaves; lots of them. I didnt kniw this until my wife traced our family roots and i saw the wills where slaves were given to the heirs and sold or traded for many generations. I had always wondered why my father and grandfather despised blacks and then I realized it was learned behavior handed down through many generations. Its not something i’m proud of but it is what it is. Those were different times.
Is that you Thaddeus S?
Well, I guess then it is YOU who owe the reparations. Please give your check to the first black person you see. :)
The Votings Rights law should be applied equally in the North and the South and not in the South alone.
Obviously, Detroit (a city for you people in Rio Linda)) and East Saint Louis come to mind as among the least racists cities, not to mention Camden, NJ and Philadelphia, (that be the one in Pennsylvania).
Blacks under Obama believe that they are "gettin' back at whitey"! It is just like the blood feuds of the Balkans.
There will be no peace until maturation moves the people beyond their need for revenge.
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