Black Voters Matter co-founders Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown and legal director April Albright issued this statement following a 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court reinstating Alabama’s racist voting maps:

This Supreme Court decision tells us everything we need to know about the Court’s dangerous position on voting rights. With a 5-4 ruling, the Court reinstated Alabama’s discriminatory voting maps – some of the most discriminatory in the nation – which dilute Black votes, deny fair representation to millions of voters, and strip power from Alabama’s Black communities. In the state of Alabama, where more than 25 percent of registered voters are Black, the Court’s decision amounts to sweeping Black voter suppression. And as redistricting fights take shape  across the U.S., including in states like North Carolina, Louisiana, and Georgia where Black voters make up large shares of the electorate, the Court’s decision suggests that the ultra-conservative majority intends to continue its assault on voting rights and representation for Black voters.

This is exactly why President Biden must nominate a Supreme Court justice with a demonstrated commitment to civil rights. In just the past few years, this court has chipped away at voting rights, workers’ rights, health care access, and fairness in the legal system, setting back the modern-day civil rights movement and undoing the hard-fought victories that have improved the standing of Black people in this country. We applaud President Biden for his promise to nominate a Black woman to the bench. But as the Court continues this assault on our most basic rights and liberties, we need a Black woman justice like Sherilyn Ifill, Kristen Clarke, Barbara Arnwine, and Judith Brown Dianis who have records of outstanding legal scholarship on civil rights, workers rights, and voting rights.

In the meantime, our work in Alabama continues. For years, we’ve been on the ground in Alabama communities empowering Black voters, creating Black joy, and mobilizing voters around the issues that impact them. This decision does not change that; it only strengthens our resolve. 

That’s why, next month, we’re joining our local grassroots and national partners on a march from Selma to Montgomery as we commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday in March 1965. For a full week, we’ll rally with dozens of organizations, advocates, and community members in Alabama to pay tribute to the Freedom Fighters who marched before us, call out the local, state and federal leaders working to suppress Black votes, and continue our power-building movement. Together, we’ll deliver a message from the Deep South all the way to Washington: no law, decision, or voting map will kill our power.”