The Question of Race and Voting Rights

This article is based on one that was first published in The Wastington Post on April 16, 1995. It has been revised in light of recent Supreme Court rulings. While President Clinton, Congress, and the public reconsider the merits and politics of affirmative action, the Supreme Court is grasping the nettle of race-conscious public policies in the most charged setting of all. In the term that just ended, the Supreme court decided cases from Louisiana and Georgia in which white and black voters challenged congressional districts that were intentionally designed - some would say racially gerrymandered - to have black majorities.

In the current term, the Court will hear similar cases from North Carolina and Texas as it continues to struggle with establishing a constitutional framework for race-conscious districting. The exceptionally explosive mix of race and politics requires particularly careful thought.