Voting Rights Act Decision Could Doom Reparations

WASHINGTON - April 29, 2026 - PRLog -- Yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, striking down a redistricting plan because it was designed to provide a political benefit based upon race, probably dooms proposals now being considered for governmental bodies to give out money in the form of reparations to people based upon their race (as descendants of slaves), says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

If race cannot be used to provide an increased chance to elect a Black candidate - or to gain admission to college - it certainly can't be used to give away thousands of dollars of taxpayers' money to individuals based upon their race, argues Banzhaf, who has won several Supreme Court cases, and over 100 cases of illegal discrimination.

The 6-justice majority opinion makes this very clear, he says, when they reminded us that "The Constitution almost never permits the Federal Government or a State to discriminate on the basis of race. . . .   Allowing race to play any part in government decisionmaking represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context. . . .  The States and Federal Government have no compelling interest in generally remediating 'past discrimination in a particular industry or region' or 'the effects of societal discrimination.'"

If governments cannot use race in "remediating 'past discrimination in a particular industry or region' or 'the effects of societal discrimination,'" even in just improving the odds of electing a candidate of a given race, they can hardly hand out millions or even billions of dollars to thousands of people selected solely on the basis of their race.

Indeed, the benefit or protection supposedly afforded by the Voting Rights Act may in many cases even hurts rather than helps the intended beneficiaries since a Black voter who is conservative might prefer a White conservative over a Black liberal, and a Black voter who is liberal may not benefit at all from the election of a Black candidate who is conservative.

So, while most of the discussion regarding this important decision has been focused on its potential political impact in future elections, it should also put a damper on proposals to provide reparations to Blacks, since any effort to provide a substantial monetary award - something obviously much more significant than a slight advantage in voting to some (but not all) Blacks - would almost certainly be struck down by the courts, predicts the law professor.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf