Black representation in Alabama tested before Supreme Court

By KIM CHANDLER, MARK SHERMAN and GARY FIELDS
Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Congressional districts that a federal court panel said were unconstitutional because they dilute representation for Black voters in Alabama are nevertheless being used for the November election after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed them. The high court hears arguments in the case on Tuesday. The packing of Black voters into just one of the state’s seven congressional districts leaves many of them without a voice and gives Republicans one more seat than they should have based on demographics and voting patterns. Partisan gerrymandering has reduced the influence of Black voters for decades in a state that is synonymous with the civil rights movement.