Black Louisianans Enter a New Political Era

Baton Rouge resident Ashley Shelton was overjoyed when she learned that, after a years-long legal battle, Black Louisianans have secured greater political representation.

On Monday, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law a map that follows the math by adding a second majority-Black congressional district. Previously, Black Louisianans had a fair shot at electing their preferred candidate in only one of the Bayou State’s six congressional districts, even though Louisiana is 33% Black.

“This whole story has been about the judges, the U.S. Supreme Court, the legislators, the governors. But, ultimately, the people are who got us here,” Shelton, the president and founder of the New Orleans-based nonprofit Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, which was a plaintiff in the case, told Capital B. “People power made this happen — there was unprecedented participation in redistricting sessions and roadshows. This was a win for the people.”

Now, advocates are gearing up for the next phase of this saga: making sure that voters understand which district they live in, and keeping them informed about the stakes of what’s sure to be a fierce, crowded contest for the seat.

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This race is especially crucial in 2024. Louisiana will likely send another Black candidate or Black-preferred candidate to the U.S. House of Representatives after this year’s elections. This change would not only chip away at the wafer-thin majority that Republicans enjoy in the lower chamber, since Black voters lean Democratic. It would also allow Black Louisianans, who suffer from one of the highest poverty rates in the country, to elect someone who has their interests at heart.

“[The new map] will give a sense of importance to our parish. Our demographics — usually Black and brown people — face the most detriments and injustices, and we don’t have access to any of the things that will help us solve our problems without representation,” Shauna Sias, a resident of Opelousas, which will be included in the redrawn district, told Capital B.

Opelousas was the site of one of the bloodiest race massacres in U.S. history, and it’s fought through decades of misappropriation of funds that have contributed to the 79% Black city’s lack of reliable infrastructure: streets, drinking water, public libraries.

Change won’t happen overnight, Sias acknowledged, but the new map will at least “build the road that’s needed to create that change.”

A winding journey

The path to this week’s victory was long.

In June 2022, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, whom former President Barack Obama appointed to the bench, ordered Louisiana’s Republican-designed congressional map to be redrawn to include a second majority-Black district.

The old map exemplified racial gerrymandering, which is when, during the map drawing process known as redistricting, one racial group receives an unfair advantage that minimizes the influence of minority voters.

Dick said Louisiana’s age-old pattern of “voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of” the arguments that civil rights groups and Black voters brought. But proceedings were later frozen when, at the state’s request, the Supreme Court intervened. The court paused the case while it considered a similar legal battle unfolding in Alabama, Allen v. Milligan. After the justices ruled last June that Alabama’s districts likely violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, they returned the Louisiana case to the lower courts to be resolved.

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The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, notorious for its ultraconservative bent, had given Louisiana lawmakers until Jan. 30 to approve a new map.

Under the map that Landry signed into law on Monday, the Black composition of Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District increases from 23% to 54%. Republican Rep. Garret Graves currently holds the seat; the redrawn lines jeopardize his reelection chances.

“Everyone thought that we’d have to go back to federal court, so the general public and the people who participated in this process over the past couple years are very pleased,” Alanah Odoms, a New Orleans resident and the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, which represented plaintiffs in the case, told Capital B. “The attorneys and advocates who are closer to the issue, we’re pleased, too.”

She underscored that the new map gets to the heart of what their central demand was: giving Black Louisianans another reasonable opportunity to elect a candidate who will champion their interests.

“Standing in our power”

Advocates are eager to be on the ground in communities in the new district and prepare residents for the upcoming elections.

“We’re still a Deep South state. There are many, many folks who have been purged from the rolls, so we have to make sure that people know their voting status and are ready to elect a candidate of their choice,” Shelton said.

As Louisiana’s redrawn map opens up political possibilities, the contest to represent the state’s new majority-Black district will likely be ferociously competitive.

“I’ve heard that so many folks are interested in running for the seat,” Shelton said, “and that’s incredible, because what that means is that someone who may not be a millionaire can compete for the seat. There are different realities now around who can run. And that’s beautiful.”

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To paint a picture of this excitement, Odoms brought up an event that her dad, a track coach, relishes talking about. For the longest time, it seemed as if no one could run a mile in under four minutes. But then, on May 6, 1954, 25-year-old Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier during a meet in Oxford, England, setting a record.

Just a few weeks later, one of his rivals beat that record.

“Once it’s clear that something is actually possible, everyone’s like, ‘Wait, maybe I can do it, too,’” Odoms said. “In Louisiana, it was obvious to the regular citizens at home that the reason we haven’t had Black representation in any of these other districts is that it’s been futile to run. People didn’t want to try. They didn’t even want to line up to race. There was just no way. But now that it’s possible — now that people know that they can actually win — I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an intense contest.”

Early last week, as the State Legislature was still considering the new map, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, complained that it would drain GOP power.

“It remains my position that the existing map is constitutional and that the legal challenge to it should be tried on merits so the State has adequate opportunity to defend its merits,” he wrote on X. “Should the state not prevail at trial, there are multiple other map options that are legally compliant and do not require the unnecessary surrender of a Republican seat in Congress.”

Yet advocates view the recent developments not as an “unnecessary surrender” but rather as a necessary corrective — as a means of granting Black Louisianans long-overdue political representation.

Shelton has been telling people that they’ve proved that they have power, and that voting in November is a way to own their power.

“We gotta make sure that we’re standing in our power,” she said.

Capital B staff writer Adam Mahoney contributed to this report.

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