The Supreme Court held that Alabama’s congressional map likely violated §2 of the Voting Rights
Act and ordered a remedy adding a second majority-Black district. The ruling preserved the
Thornburg v. Gingles framework for vote-dilution claims, affecting redistricting nationally.
Supreme Court of the United StatesState of AlabamaDOJ Civil Rights Divisionsection-2section-2-vravoting-rights-actredistrictingracial-discrimination+4 more
The Tennessee House of Representatives expelled two young Black Democratic lawmakers—Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis—while sparing white Democratic Representative Gloria Johnson, in a blatantly racially discriminatory vote that temporarily disenfranchised approximately …
Tennessee House RepublicansJustin JonesJustin PearsonGloria JohnsonCameron Sexton+1 morelegislative-suppressionracial-discriminationvoting-rightsprotest-criminalizationinstitutional-capture+1 more
Governor Bill Lee signed legislation on August 21, 2020 that escalated penalties for camping on Tennessee state property from a misdemeanor to a Class E felony punishable by up to six years in prison and permanent disenfranchisement—a transparent effort to suppress Black Lives Matter protests that …
Bill LeeTennessee General AssemblyRandy McNallyCameron Sextonprotest-suppressionvoting-rightsfelony-disenfranchisementracial-discriminationlegislative-capture+2 more
Federal courts strike down North Carolina’s 2011 legislative redistricting as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering, finding that Republican lawmakers illegally packed African American voters into 28 districts. In response, the Republican-controlled legislature redraws the maps with explicit …
North Carolina General AssemblyDavid LewisRobert RuchoRepublican Partygerrymanderingracial-discriminationnorth-carolinavoting-rightsrepublican-party
On a single day in late July 2017, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office removes 560,000 Georgians—8% of the state’s registered voters—from the voter rolls in what may be the largest mass purge in U.S. history. The purge uses Georgia’s aggressive “use it or lose …
Brian KempGeorgia Secretary of Statevoter-suppressiongeorgiabrian-kempvoter-purgeracial-discrimination
A federal judge rules that Texas’s voter ID law, widely considered the strictest in the nation, was intentionally designed to discriminate against Black and Latino voters. The ruling finds “a pattern of conduct unexplainable on grounds other than the race factor” and marks the …
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals strikes down North Carolina’s comprehensive voter suppression law (HB 589) in a scathing ruling that finds the legislature “target[ed] African Americans with almost surgical precision.” Judge Diana Gribbon Motz’s opinion exposes how North …
Fourth Circuit Court of AppealsDiana Gribbon MotzNorth Carolina General Assemblyvoting-rightsnorth-carolinavoter-suppressionracial-discriminationhb-589
Within hours of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision gutting the Voting Rights Act, North Carolina Republicans introduce and rapidly pass House Bill 589, one of the most comprehensive voter suppression laws in the nation. The law imposes strict voter ID requirements, eliminates …
North Carolina General AssemblyRepublican Partyvoter-suppressionnorth-carolinarepublican-partyvoting-rightsracial-discrimination
A federal court rules that the Texas Legislature’s 2011 redistricting plan for congressional districts discriminated against Latino voters in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution. The decision finds that Texas deliberately carved up Latino communities and …
Bank of America completed its acquisition of Countrywide Financial on July 1, 2008, purchasing the nation’s largest mortgage lender for approximately $4 billion in a Federal Reserve-approved transaction that would ultimately cost Bank of America and its shareholders at least $50 billion in …
Angelo MoziloCountrywide FinancialBank of AmericaSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC)Department of Justice+1 morefinancial-crisisregulatory-capturepredatory-lendingfraudaccountability-crisis+1 more
Subprime mortgage lending reaches $160 billion annually by 2000, a tenfold increase from 1993, as predatory lenders systematically target minority communities with high-cost loans. Rather than expanding homeownership, research shows that subprime lending at this scale actually causes net losses in …
Household Finance CorporationAssociates First CapitalCitigroupAmeriquestNational Association of Mortgage Brokerspredatory-lendinghousing-policyracial-discriminationsubprime-mortgageshousing
Congress passes the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter Act) over President Truman’s veto on June 27, 1952, codifying a racialized immigration quota system that allocates 85 percent of the 154,277 visas available annually to individuals of northern and western European …
Pat McCarranFrancis E. WalterHarry S. TrumanU.S. CongressHerbert Lehmanimmigrationracial-discriminationquota-systemlegislative-overrideanticommunism
The Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Korematsu v. United States on December 18, 1944, upholding the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 and the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Justice Hugo Black writes for the majority that military necessity during wartime justifies the mass …
Supreme CourtFred KorematsuHugo BlackRobert JacksonFrank Murphy+2 morecivil-libertiesracial-discriminationsupreme-courtconstitutional-violationjudicial-capture+1 more
On July 17, 1944, two transport ships loading ammunition at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California explode, killing 320 men instantly, including 202 African American enlisted men who comprised the entire loading workforce. Three weeks later, 258 surviving Black sailors refuse to return to loading …
U.S. NavyThurgood MarshallNAACPPort Chicago 50Eleanor Rooseveltracial-discriminationmilitary-justicecivil-rightslabor-exploitationinstitutional-racism
President Roosevelt signs the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill) on June 22, 1944, creating transformative benefits for veterans including education, housing, and unemployment assistance. However, Southern Democrats, led by Mississippi Representative John Rankin, ensure the bill’s …
Franklin D. RooseveltCongressJohn RankinVeterans AdministrationAmerican Legionracial-discriminationwealth-inequalityhousing-policyeducation-policyfederalism-exploitation
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War and military commanders to designate “military areas” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.” Though the order never mentions Japanese Americans by name, …
Franklin D. RooseveltWar Relocation AuthorityU.S. Army Western Defense CommandJohn L. DeWittMilton Eisenhower+1 morecivil-libertiesracial-discriminationexecutive-overreachconstitutional-violationproperty-seizure+1 more
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Giles v. Harris that federal courts cannot enforce Black voting rights under the Fifteenth Amendment, effectively sanctioning the wave of disenfranchisement sweeping the South. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., writing for the majority, acknowledged that …
Supreme CourtOliver Wendell Holmes Jr.Jackson GilesAlabama LegislatureBooker T. Washingtonvoting-rightssupreme-courtracial-discriminationinstitutional-capturedisenfranchisement