美国国家公共电台 NPR--It's not good when voting rights cases make it to the Supreme court, author says

It's not good when voting rights cases make it to the Supreme¹ court, author says

Transcript²

The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could have consequences for voting rights. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Ari Berman, reporter at Mother Jones magazine and author of Give Us the Ballot³.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Supreme Court heard opening arguments this week in a case that could further erode⁴ the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That legislation was one of the great achievements of the civil rights movement of the '50s and '60s, and it sought to eliminate racial discrimination against minority voters. Central to the case before the Supreme Court is whether the redrawing of congressional districts in Alabama is diluting⁵ the voting power of Black voters, who make up more than a quarter of that state's population. We've called up Ari Berman to talk about this. He's a senior reporter at Mother Jones magazine and author of the book, "Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle For Voting Rights In America." Ari, thanks so much for being with us.

ARI BERMAN: Thanks so much for having me, Rachel.

MARTIN: You have said that it's never a good thing when voting rights cases make it to the Supreme Court. Explain that.

BERMAN: Well, there's been a pretty consistent trend from this Supreme Court over the past decade in narrowing voting rights and in attacking the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court gutted⁶ the heart of the Voting Rights Act in a decision in 2013. Eight years later, they further weakened the Voting Rights Act, making it harder to challenge potentially discriminatory voting laws. And now they're hearing a third case that could lead the court to even further weaken the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

MARTIN: And what would the repercussions⁷ of that be? What would the immediate⁸ future look like if the Supreme Court decides in favor of Alabama in the case it's hearing?

BERMAN: If the Supreme Court rules in favor of Alabama, it's likely to have a chilling effect on representation for communities of color. It's going to embolden⁹ states to take steps to either refuse to draw new districts for minority lawmakers at a time when there is massive demographic changes in the country, or it could embolden lawmakers to actually dismantle¹⁰ existing majority-minority districts that elect Black, Latino or Asian American lawmakers. So I think the general consensus¹¹ among voting rights experts is that if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Alabama, it's going to lead to fewer minority legislators being elected, not more.

MARTIN: What do you think is important for Americans to remember about the voting landscape prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

BERMAN: I think it's really important for Americans to remember that so many people were disenfranchised in America, particularly Black Americans. There were counties in Alabama where 80% of residents were Black, but there wasn't a single Black registered voter before the passage of the Voting Rights Act. In the entire state of Mississippi, only 6% of African Americans were registered to vote. And it's easy to forget that this was just 55 years ago in this country that there were essentially¹² entire swaths of people, an entire region of the country, that could not vote.

MARTIN: So explain what we're looking at in the case of Alabama by example of, say, the city of Montgomery, which is part of three different congressional districts. Am I right on that?

BERMAN: Exactly. So what Alabama has done is they've basically split up Black communities so that there's only one congressional district out of seven where Black voters can elect a candidate of their choice, even though African Americans are more than a quarter of Alabama's population. And so civil rights groups sued in the latest redistricting cycle. They said that Black voters were cohesive¹³ enough to draw a second majority Black district in the state. They won before the lower courts, but then the Supreme Court intervened and blocked that plan. And so the situation right now in Alabama is there's a large Black population, but they're underrepresented, and their votes are diluted¹⁴ to give white Republicans a political advantage.

MARTIN: And baked into this is the assumption, I suppose, that Black voters are not voting for the same candidates that white voters are, and vice¹⁵ versa?

BERMAN: Exactly. Unfortunately, in states like Alabama, voting is still very racially polarized. You go back to 2008 and 2012, when Barack Obama was on the ballot. He only got about 10% of the white vote in states like Alabama and Mississippi. So we'd like to think that 50-plus years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we've moved beyond that kind of racial polarization in voting. But unfortunately, many places, particularly in the South, remain very racially polarized. And really, the only way that you can elect a Black candidate is if there's a Black majority or close to it in places like Alabama.

MARTIN: So Republicans in the state reject the characterization that the redrawing of the districts was racially based at all. Our colleague Michel Martin went to Alabama, and she interviewed a whole lot of people involved in the case, including Republican State Senator Jim McClendon. He's one of the chairs of the state's redistricting commission. And I want to play a little bit of tape from what he told her.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

JIM MCCLENDON: When we drew the districts, we drew the districts race-blind. In other words, as our computer - as the lines moved on the screen, the numbers change. We didn't have race up there because we couldn't. You're not supposed to use race. Voting Rights Act will tell you very clearly, you can't use race in doing this. Then the three-judge panel comes along and says, you need to redraw these. You need to draw two districts that are majority African American districts or two that are very close to that, which means you've got to use race.

MARTIN: How do you respond to that?

BERMAN: Well, that really is the central debate in this case, is should the Voting Rights Act be a race-blind statute¹⁶? That's what Republicans and Conservatives in other states are calling for. But what defenders¹⁷ of the Voting Rights Act will say is that it's impossible for the Voting Rights Act to be a race-blind statute because the Voting Rights Act was meant to consider race. It was meant to consider race as a way to stop decades of racial discrimination in voting. And you can't equalize political power. You can't create new opportunities for historically marginalized and disenfranchised communities unless you at least take race into account. And we'd all love to believe that we live in a race-blind society, but unfortunately, we don't. And as long as there remains¹⁸ this underrepresentation, these historic and socioeconomic disparities, race is going to have to be taken into account. And that was a very sharp debate that came before the Supreme Court when they heard the case this week.

MARTIN: Ari Berman, senior reporter at Mother Jones magazine and author of the book "Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle For Voting Rights in America," we so appreciate your time.

BERMAN: Thanks so much for having me, Rachel.

(SOUNDBITE OF RICHARD BUCKNER'S "SURROUNDED")

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

4 erode   

v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失

参考例句：

• Once exposed,soil is quickly eroded by wind and rain.一旦暴露在外，土壤很快就会被风雨侵蚀。
• Competition in the financial marketplace has eroded profits.金融市场的竞争降低了利润。

5 diluting   

稀释，冲淡( dilute的现在分词 )； 削弱，使降低效果

参考例句：

• A companion would have been a distraction, diluting the pathos of the moment. 要是有一个伴侣在旁就会分散我的注意，冲淡此时此刻的哀婉之情。
• Diluting agent has certain transparency for ink multi-color overprint. 冲淡剂具有必定的透明量，适分油不朱的众色叠印。

6 gutted   

adj.容易消化的v.毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的过去式和过去分词 )；取出…的内脏

参考例句：

• Disappointed? I was gutted! 失望？我是伤心透了！
• The invaders gutted the historic building. 侵略者们将那幢历史上有名的建筑洗劫一空。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

10 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

11 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

12 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

13 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

14 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 statute   

n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例

参考例句：

• Protection for the consumer is laid down by statute.保障消费者利益已在法令里作了规定。
• The next section will consider this environmental statute in detail.下一部分将详细论述环境法令的问题。

17 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。