Race in the Justice System

In my "Understanding African-Americans in the Media" class, we were asked to write a one-page paper on a current issue relating past and present issues in American history, while tying in their effects on the African-American community. This is that. Luckily it was only a page before I outright condemned America and got too soapbox-y.



The LA Times recently reported on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s remarks about the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The justice referred to the law as “a perpetuation of racial entitlement”, causing the discussion to get heated. After the remarks were released, a protest was organized outside of the Supreme Court comprised of people outraged by the statement. U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. said that he believes discrimination in voting is a problem in the South. The case was brought about when Shelby County, Alabama sued to challenge the law based on what their lawyers believed to be singling out the South for a history of heavy discrimination.

 This story is important and relevant because although the ruling for African-Americans to be able to vote was awarded nearly 50 years ago, the case is still being argued. Alabama argues that it’s unfair for their state and other Southern states to be ordered to submit changes in election laws to federal offices for clearance. However, civil rights advocates argue that this is an important law to keep in tact in order to ensure that racist voting policies aren’t passed.

 It’s interesting that a Supreme Court justice would feel the need to reveal his affirmations that voting rights perpetuate racial entitlement when we are supposed to be living in a so-called “post-racial” society. Despite the American government’s willingness to look the other way when someone cries “racism”, the evidence sits in our very own federal court system in this case and at Justice Scalia’s remarks, despite his reprimanding by Justice Sotomayor and protests against his words. After seeing the physical and emotional turmoil blacks went through in this country mere decades ago, stories like this often bring to the forefront of how much longer we will have to go to eradicate this country’s racist tendencies and policies. Bringing a law that enabled minorities in this country to vote because a state has to do extra paperwork is indicative of how much more work needs to be done. It is reflective of the strides taken by those before us and how people in this generation need to continue the work done. Despite the law’s passing only 48 years ago, we must still keep fighting to retain our basic rights.