Tell-It Report: Supreme Court Ruling Could Wipe Out Nearly All of Alabama’s Black Lawmakers, Report Says
There could be devastating changes to Black representation across the entire South, Black Voters Matter Fund and Fair Fight Action warn.
In Gullah Geechee communities, a “tell-it” was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.
Alabama could lose both of its Black-majority districts if the Supreme Court guts the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais.
A new tax proposal threatens to displace Sapelo Island’s Gullah Geechee residents while making room for wealthy vacationers.
A new investigation from ProPublica found that more than 1,000 nonprofits have changed language in their mission statements they submitted to the IRS to fall in line with Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders.
Read the full stories below:
Supreme Court ruling could wipe out almost all of Alabama’s Black lawmakers
Alabama could lose almost all of its Black legislators if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down a key section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to Black Voters Matter Fund and Fair Fight Action.
The organizations released a report called “The Southern State Legislature Effect” to warn about the fallout if the nation’s highest court deems Section 2 of the historic civil rights law unconstitutional. In November, the Supreme Court heard a second set of oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, a landmark redistricting case in which the court will determine the constitutionality of Louisiana’s congressional map.
If Section 2 is dismantled, “The Southern State Legislature Effect” explains that 191 Democratic-held legislative seats in 10 Southern states could be eliminated, AL.com reports. Alabama would lose 22 districts, bringing its Democratic representation from 37 to 15, and both of its Black-majority districts, the report outlines.
Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana would each lose more than 20 Black- or Hispanic-majority districts.
“What that is doing is providing a fatal blow to Black representation in the South,” Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo told Stateline.
The report also warns that if gerrymandering laws are deemed unconstitutional, these changes could “cement one-party control of the U.S. House for at least a generation.” Gutting the Voting Rights Act is “a coordinated assault on Black advancement,” according to the report. Previously, the groups projected that with the collapse of Section 2, Republicans could draw an additional 19 seats.
April Albright, national legal director of the Black Voters Matter Fund, told AL.com that their report isn’t solely about congressional seats.
“The Voting Rights Act also relates to state-level districts, and it could even go below that and deal with county and municipal districts. We want it to be clear that if the Court vacates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, it can have implications far beyond whether minorities have one or two congressional districts in Alabama.”
A proposed tax valuation could displace Gullah Geechee landowners
Sapelo Island’s Gullah Geechee residents are facing yet another systemic disruptor that could have a devastating impact on their livelihood.
A massive property tax hike could push them out of their community and invite developers in to build a vacation community for the wealthy. At a Dec. 3 meeting, the McIntosh County Board of Assessors listened to a proposal to raise the property value in the Hogg Hummock community where the Gullah-Geechee descendants reside, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Chief appraiser Blair McLinn explained that a $1,800 tax bill could skyrocket to $10,000. The SPLC reports that the increase would occur over three years, with a third of the new taxes added each year.
Reginald Hall, a descendant, wrote to the board that the new tax valuation is a move to force the Gullah Geechee descendants off their ancestral land, the last preserved in Georgia.
“The McIntosh County Board of Assessors is poised to explode property values through comprehensive re-assessment of its historic Hogg Hummock community only,” Hall wrote. “In so doing, McIntosh County is again forcing the members of the Gullah-Geechee community to litigate their very right to remain and exist.”
Property taxes have been frozen in the Hogg Hummock community for 10 years after residents settled two lawsuits claiming the government didn’t provide necessities such as water and emergency services while collecting taxes.
This recent proposal comes just two months after Georgia’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hogg Hummock residents maintaining their right to fight by democratic process against zoning changes that threatened to displace them.
More than 1,000 nonprofits have stripped DEI language from tax forms under Trump
As the first year of Trump’s second term comes to a close, ProPublica has found that more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations have removed language related to race, gender, sexual identity and more from their tax filings.
In accordance with the Trump administration’s anti-DEI policies, the investigative organization found that many groups have “minimizing language tied to race, inequity and historically disadvantaged communities” in the mission statements they submitted to the Internal Revenue Service. Others removed diversity initiatives or renamed job titles — and in one case, renamed the organization. Financial Alliance for Racial Equity in Ohio is now the Financial Alliance for Representation and Empowerment.
UNICEF USA promised to make a “better world for every child” instead of a “more equitable world.” AI4ALL used to aim to open “doors to the artificial intelligence industry for historically excluded talent through education and mentorship.” Now, its “mission is to ensure that the next generation of AI leaders reflects humanity. AI4ALL is transforming the pipeline of AI practitioners who will shape AI for the benefit of humanity.”
Maya Raghu, who runs a program to protect DEI at Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told ProPublica, “The administration’s attacks on DEI and equal opportunity efforts have created a chilling effect through fear, intimidation and confusion.”
Though many nonprofits acquiesced, fearing the loss of federal funding and support, some nonprofits are standing up against the Trump administration’s DEI attacks.
In October, a coalition of more than 50 anti-human trafficking organizations filed a lawsuit claiming that two of Trump’s executive orders violate the intent of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act by limiting their ability to fight systemic disparities.
Chicago Women in Trades is also fighting anti-DEI laws in court to continue supporting women in getting fair wages. The Progress Center for Black Women in Wisconsin has been advised to change its name to continue to receive funding. CEO Sabrina Madison refuses.
“There’s no way. I just remember sitting there thinking like, I would prefer to pause for four years or three years, whatever it takes, than change the name of the organization, change our mission statement, change our target audience,” she told the Cap Times. “That’s absolutely insane.”
ICYMI
Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Cree Summer and Darryl M. Bell will reprise their roles in A Different World reboot.
A new study found that more than 90% of streaming shows created last year were created by white people.
Maryland will consider slavery reparations after Gov. Wes Moore’s veto was overridden.
Barbara Rose Johns, who mobilized hundreds of high school students to fight for equality in education, has been memorialized with a statue at the U.S. Capitol, replacing that of a Confederate general.
The Navy quietly disciplined 18 SEALs after investigators found them sending racist memes targeting a Black member in a private group chat.
The president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, who is Black, has sued a former professor, who is white, for accusing her of plagiarism and racism.
Rayna Reid Rayford launched an app that addresses the Black maternal health crisis after having her own experience with medical neglect.
Donna Summer was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Black enrollment continues to drop at top law schools across the country.
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I don't trust this supreme court at all. I'm convinced that they're trying to take us back to 1850.