#TalkRadio – September 12: Exclusive Interview with Evan Milligan on Alabama Redistricting Case and Part Two of Rising Hate Crimes

SPEAKERS:

Dianne Wilkerson: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
First African American Female to serve in the Massachusetts Senate and TJC Board Treasurer

Evan Milligan: 12:00 PM – 12:57 PM ET
Executive Director of Alabama Forward

INTRODUCTION:

The Igniting Change Radio Show on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023, from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Time, entitled, “Exclusive Interview with Evan Milligan on Alabama Redistricting Case and Part Two of Rising Hate Crimes”, will be live with Radio Show Co-Hosts and Transformative Justice Coalition (TJC) Co-Leaders Attorneys Barbara Arnwine, Esq. and Daryl Jones, Esq. and guests Evan Milligan and Dianne Wilkerson. Today’s show will update last week’s show regarding the critical case of Allen v. Milligan and will look at the rise in hate crimes occurring against backdrop of the historic 60th Anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham which killed 4 Black girls: Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins [Note: later that evening, two young Black boys were also murdered in shootings, with a third young Black boy wounded. The two boys who were killed were Virgil Ware, 13, who was murdered by White Supremacists and Johnny Robinson, 16, who was shot by police. In addition, at the time of the bombing, there were other children near the site who were injured, such as Addie Mae Collins’ sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, who is still injured to this day.] This Friday, September 15th, the nation is being asked to observe this tragedy and to pay tribute to the girls by ringing bells in moments of silence at 10:22 AM Central Time. 

Sadly, the hate that inspired the bombing that will be commemorated on Friday persists. In previous shows we have discussed the recent Jacksonville hate killings. In a recent incident in Cape Cod, Massachusetts epitomizes the intergenerational perpetuation of hate. In this matter, a 14-year old White boy purposefully lured a Black boy to a pond where the White boy purposely tried to drown the Black boy, who said he couldn’t swim, while the 14 year old’s other White friend laughed and yelled “George Floyd”. Our show will discuss this incident and other recent hate crimes and how we effectively fight against them. 

On June 7th 2023, The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision on Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. ___ (2023), The following summary and primary holding is taken from Justia:

In 1992, Voting Rights Act (52 U.S.C. 10301) Section 2 litigation challenging Alabama’s districting map resulted in Alabama’s first majority-black district and its first black Representative since 1877. Alabama’s congressional map has remained similar since then. Following the 2020 census, the state enacted a new districting map (HB1), which produced only one district in which black voters constituted a majority.

The Supreme Court affirmed a preliminary injunction, prohibiting the use of HB 1.

Section 2 provides that the right to vote ‘shall not be denied or abridged … on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.’ A 1982 amendment incorporated an effects test and a disclaimer that ‘nothing’ in Section 2 ‘establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.’ The Supreme Court subsequently employed the ;Gingles framework,’ under which Section 2 plaintiffs must satisfy three preconditions and then show that, under the ‘totality of circumstances,’ the challenged process is not ‘equally open’ to minority voters.

The district court correctly found that black voters could constitute a majority in a second district that was ‘reasonably configured’ and that there was no serious dispute that Black voters are politically cohesive, nor that the challenged districts’ white majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to usually defeat Black voters’ preferred candidate. The court’s findings that ‘Black Alabamians enjoy virtually zero success in statewide elections’ and concerning ‘Alabama’s extensive history of repugnant racial and voting-related discrimination’ were unchallenged.

The Court rejected Alabama’s arguments that a state’s map cannot abridge a person’s right to vote ‘on account of race’ if the map resembles a sufficient number of race-neutral alternatives and that the plaintiffs must prove discriminatory intent. Section 2, as applied to redistricting, is not unconstitutional under the Fifteenth Amendment.

PRIMARY HOLDING
In a case under the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court strikes down an Alabama redistricting map that diluted Black voting power.

The Alabama legislature openly defied SCOTUS’ order, ultimately leading to “[a] three-judge federal panel [on September 5th, 2023] rul[ing] that a new Alabama congressional map failed to address Voting Rights Act violations and ordered a third party to draw new lines.

“In a 217-page opinion in the case, known as Allen v. Milligan, U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and U.S. District Judges Anna Manasco and Terry Moorer sharply criticized the Alabama Legislature, writing that they were “deeply troubled” that lawmakers did not draw a map that gave Black voters in the state the chance to elect representatives of their choosing, as the judges ordered in a January 2022 ruling. ‘We are not aware of any other case in which a state legislature — faced with a federal court order declaring that its electoral plan unlawfully dilutes minority votes and requiring a plan that provides an additional opportunity district — responded with a plan that the state concedes does not provide that district,’ the judges wrote. ‘The law requires the creation of an additional district that affords Black Alabamians, like everyone else, a fair and reasonable opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. The 2023 Plan plainly fails to do so.’ The court ordered special master Richard Allen to submit three potential remedial maps by Sept. 25, with an emphasis on addressing the Voting Rights Act violations.

“The Alabama attorney general’s office said in a statement that it would “promptly seek review” of the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. ‘While we are disappointed in today’s decision, we strongly believe that the Legislature’s map complies with the Voting Rights Act and the recent decision of the U.S. Supreme Court,’ the statement said.

…

“In a joint statement Tuesday morning, the plaintiffs in the Milligan case, who argued the map robbed them of their ability to select leaders of their choosing, said that Alabama had admitted “its intention to defy the law and the U.S. Supreme Court. “‘Sixty years ago, former Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door to stop Black people from desegregating the University of Alabama,’ the statement said. ‘He moved only when the federal government forced him to do so. History is repeating itself and the district court’s decision confirms that Alabama is again on the losing side. We demand that Alabama again move out of the way and obey our laws — we demand our voting rights.’

…

“Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, one of the leading critics of the proposal during the July special session, said Tuesday that Alabama Republicans had ‘commandeered a special session (and) used it to take up a losing strategy, just to try to force this back into the Supreme Court. Many people throughout the session said it was going to happen, and it did,’ England said. ‘I think that should make everybody angry.’

“Benard Simelton, president of the Alabama State Conference NAACP, said Tuesday ‘the court meant what it said and said what it meant, and that the state of Alabama has no intention of complying with the federal court’s order nor the Supreme Court’s order.’” [Source: Federal court blocks Alabama’s congressional map, orders new lines drawn by the Alabama Reflector. Source also includes litigation history.] 

QUESTIONS:

SEGMENT ONE

• Welcome, Evan Milligan. Let’s review, for our audience, what the Allen vs. Milligan case is about. 
• After the Alabama Legislature openly defied the Supreme Court of the United States’ order, a federal 3-judge Court ordered a Master to create a new map. What is the meaning of this action that the Court took?
• What is the current status of this case?

SEGMENT TWO

• Dianne Wilkerson, you have represented plaintiffs in voting rights and fair housing cases. Sadly, Boston is undergoing its own redistricting crisis. What has Evan’s fight in Alabama meant to you?
• Evan, what is the atmosphere on the ground in Alabama? Are people angry, frustrated, disappointed, dejected, etc.? 
• [Evan] As Alabama Forward seeks to organize political power for those who have been so disenfranchised, what do you see as the most important steps that are needed to address this overall crisis of failure of political representation by the state legislature?
• Next week, Evan, you are coming to DC during the CBC week. What are the messages you’re hoping to promote to help?
• Evan, what can people do to help?

SEGMENT THREE

• The George-Wallace-like defiance of the Alabama State Legislature has other consequences beyond political representation, the most ugly of which is the perpetuation of racist hate. On recent shows, we’ve discussed the Jacksonville shooting. However, the recent incident in Cape Cod where a White boy tried to drown a Black boy while another White boy laughed and mocked. Dianne, when you heard about this, what was your reaction?
• Dianne, TJC was on Martha’s Vineyard together a few weeks ago and since then, there have been postings of racist hates at a few Black businesses there. In your opinion, what’s fueling this hate?
• In your opinions, is the fight for political representation and the fight against hate crimes the same fight?

SEGMENT FOUR

• [Barbara and Daryl will give a reminder on the Black Farmers’ Discrimination Fund: The Black farmers fund, from the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program, is being funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act contains an assistance fund for farmers who were discriminated against. This fund has $2.2b to cover 75 million applicants and covers anyone who can provide proof that they were discriminated against by the federal government. You can only apply up to October 31st through the 40 page application which started on July 7th.]
• [Barbara and Daryl, and guests, and will discuss their excitement for the upcoming Sept. 20th – 24th Gen Z and Millennial Votes Matter Leadership Training Class and continue to extend thanks to the community for helping recruit the class.]
• What do you think is the most important grassroots organizing that you think needs to happen in order to ensure strong voter protection and engagement in November 2023 and 2024?
• What are your final thoughts to our listeners?
• Thank you for all of your hard work. How do our listeners get in contact with you?