From The Establishment Bar:
Some thoughts on the SCOTUS VRA ruling
Posted by Liberal Librarian
April 30, 2026

Yesterday, our vaunted Supreme Court of these very United States gutted the Voting Rights Act even more. It seems to be a fondness that the six “conservative” justices have to dismantle this country’s greatest achievement in civil rights.

The usual suspects—the ones who have all the smoke for the Democratic Party but none for the party actually committing the malfeasance—are wailing and gnashing their teeth, declaring this is the end of the VRA and of democracy as we know it. These people would not have survived the civil rights marches, or the Second World War, or the Great Depression. I do agree with the man-children on the right: we’ve become coddled, used to instant gratification, unwilling to put in the work required to maintain democracy. (The irony, of course, is that those rightists are even more coddled and living in privilege.) People echo John Lewis about getting into “good trouble,” but absolutely do not comprehend the sacrifices that would entail.

But I wish to return to the idea that this ruling is the “end of democracy.” First, it isn’t. But more importantly: What democracy?

I would argue that until 1965, this country was, at best, a partial democracy. Yes, there were elections. Yes, power alternated between Democrats and Republicans. But can you call a country “democratic” if in an entire region an entire population was unable to vote? Can you call a country a “democracy,” as I would guess many of us define it, if large segments of those living in the country were second-class citizens? Can you call a country a “democracy” if for a large portion of its history it enslaved a captive population, and committed genocide against its native inhabitants?

Of course you can. And that is what was so epochal about the Voting Rights Act. For the first time in law, it was stated that, ideally, this was not a republic for white people only. That all citizens had the most fundamental right of citizenship: the franchise. That it could not be withheld by law or custom. It was a watershed moment in American history.

Before 1965, America was a partial democracy. It was a democracy which subjugated people at home and abroad. It was a democracy which placed 120,000 of its citizens of Japanese descent into concentration camps. It was a democracy in which its Supreme Court declared segregation legal. The idea that we have had two hundred and fifty years of wondrous democracy is simply farcical. Even most white men weren’t able to vote until the Jackson reforms of the 1820s because they were not property owners.

But look at this history. It is a history of slow, aching progress. It is a history of the expansion of what it means to be an American. It is a history of people struggling for, and many times dying for, rights which should have been theirs from birth. It is a history of people who would not give up, who would not accept “no” as an answer.

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The democracy we’ve taken for granted has existed for only sixty years. Do we meekly succumb, twirl a forelock, and bow to our betters? My parents didn’t flee to this country to be anyone’s serf, or for their sons to serve anyone. It’s time for white people to realize that they are as much being pushed into serfdom as anyone. And by that point it won’t matter what your pretensions about being superior to “those people” are. You’ll be right there with them.

The Voting Rights Act wasn’t “Black history.” It was a monumental achievement of American history. Its ghettoization has allowed this ruling. But rights which can be taken from some can be taken from all. The majority of this nation needs to grok this, and the sooner the better.

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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Today’s Supreme Court ruling guts the Voting Rights Act and turns back the clock on the foundational promise of equality and fairness in our election systems.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was one of the last remaining federal protections for Black and brown voters against maps deliberately drawn to dilute their political power. That protection has been stripped away.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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It is an outrage. But it is not a surprise.

It is part of an agenda that conservatives set in place decades ago to steal power from everyday people and then cling to that power for generations.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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The court’s decision is motivated by politics and designed to give an upper hand to Donald Trump’s Republican Party, which faces the threat of losing the upcoming midterm elections.

We must pay attention to what happens next.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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The fight now returns to the states. Legislatures—particularly those in the South—will rush to redraw districts before voting for the midterms begins. Already, Louisiana and Florida are planning to redraw their maps, and we should not be surprised if others follow suit ahead of the midterms & 2028.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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Their politically-motivated power grab is meant to protect elected Republicans from any consequences for their failure to make groceries, gas, health care, or housing more affordable for you and your family. They want to cheat and choose their voters, instead of the voters deciding who they choose.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026

Kamala Harris

‪@kamalaharris.com‬

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The mission before us is to restore the power of the people. There is no question our fight became harder today, but I know we are up for the battle.
3:21 PM · Apr 29, 2026
https://bsky.app/profile/kamalaharris.com/post/3mknwg67hct27

Nothing but truth.

KennyMack1971
‪@kennymack1971.bsky.social‬
From the moment the Supreme Court handed down Brown vs the Board of Education the RW has been on a mission. That mission became even more focused with the signing of the civil and voting rights bill and then became a crusade with Roe v Wade. The mission was to takeover SCOTUS.
6:45 AM · Apr 30, 2026

KennyMack1971
‪@kennymack1971.bsky.social‬
They never wavered. They poured resources and money into candidates at every level and they showed up to vote in every election. They never hid their intentions either. They never hide their intentions. But people thought it was a joke.
6:45 AM · Apr 30, 2026

KennyMack1971
‪@kennymack1971.bsky.social‬
That’s why so many of us are angry because we saw the play clearly but we were called sheep and low information voters stuck on a plantation. And now here we are watching the things our ancestors fought being stripped away. It’s disgusting.
6:45 AM · Apr 30, 2026
https://bsky.app/profile/kennymack1971.bsky.social/post/3mkpk2gcshs2u