Voters in rural Alabama will cast historic votes this November. It’s the first time residents in the newly redrawn Congressional District Two will pick their member of the U.S. House. It took a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court to create the new map to better represent African Americans in Congress. The concern now is over ongoing legal challenges that could flip the map back to a majority of white voters who lean conservative. The APR news team has spent the last nine months looking into issues surrounding the new District Two. Here’s how it all began and where it’s going…
“We’ll be getting started in about five minutes…” That was the five-minute warning from the front of the Holiday Inn in downtown Mobile, Alabama. The breakfast buffet is at the back.
“I have a lot of family who are, in my opinion, like grassroots on the ground boots, you know,” said Jordan Stalworth. His family is from Conecuh County. “Walking the streets basically, make sure everybody wanted to vote and all.”
Conecuh is a rural county. It’s northeast of Mobile, and southwest of the State Capital of Montgomery. The county is perhaps best known for Conecuh sausage, a staple on most Alabama breakfast tables. Stalworth says his family likes to talk politics, just not when they’re eating…
“Well, I wouldn't say around the breakfast table or around lunchtime, but no, they really did care,” Stalworth observed.
And, now the Stalworths have more to chew on than the sausage named for their home county. Jordan among the roughly one third of Alabama’s population that’s African American. Despite those numbers, the State has only one district in the U.S. House drawn to represent black voters. That may change following Allen versus Milligan.
“I just feel like as an Alabamian, and as a black Alabamian, I know there's work that needs to be done” said Shelela Dowdy. The work she’s referring to is the court case that redrew Alabama’s Congressional map.
“I'm just, you know, doing the work that needs to be done, utilizing my voice,” she said. “You don't need a political seat to always do that. You can be a regular, average citizen.”
A regular average citizen maybe, but Dowdy was also one of the plaintiffs whose case went before the U.S. Supreme Court. And in June of last year, Dowdy’s side won. She was a featured speaker during today’s meeting. The northwest quarter of Mobile County is in the new Congressional District Two. Allen versus Milligan challenged an older voting map that critics say tilted power toward white Republicans. Some are cheering the Supreme Court ruling. But, not everyone…
“There is some sense of, oh my god, like all of this that's going on,” said Deanna Fowler. She’s the Executive Director of the group Alabama Forward. Fowler is in charge of today’s meeting to gather community activists to get out the vote in Mobile.
“I think, given where we are in the country right now, this next phase is probably going to be tough,” she said.
Fowler is referring to what happens now that the Congressional District map has been redrawn to better represent Black voters. That’s phase one. Phase two is keeping that map.
”I think since then, we've seen a lot from SCOTUS that, you know, makes me a little bit anxious about the way that things could go moving forward, and then within the context of everything else happening in the country, it's going to be interesting, at the very least, to see how things go.”
Fowler’s nightmare scenario goes like this. The U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a follow-up challenge the new district, and the justices flip flop. That could put the older conservative leaning map back in. It’s not just a possibility.
“Evidence is being gathered and reviewed, and the arguments will take place in February of 2025,” said Shalela Dowdy, one of the plaintiffs in Allen versus Milligan. Dowdy’s referring to the Republican lawmakers who prefer the older map that trims black representation in District two by ten percent.
“We have trial February 2025 and we will be focused on the map that the legislation latest legislators drew last summer of 2023 that was only 39% black. And so the whole court case will be sitting around that right now,” she said.
While Dowdy gears up for that new court battle, Deanna Fowler is working on another front. She says one key to keeping District Two off the chopping block is showing that redrawing the map wasn’t a mistake.
“If we can show that, you know, voices that had not been represented before, those those communities really turned out when they had an opportunity to, in their minds, really be heard through their vote,” Fowler said.
And that means taking Alabama Forward’s political show on the road the very next day. It’s Saturday morning. Alabama Forward packed up and left the Holiday Inn and moved two blocks east to Mardi Gras park in Mobile. The bells chime at Christ Church Cathedral as Fowler and her team trade their business attire for t-shirts and sneakers.
They’re setting up for Alabama Forward’s latest get-out-the-vote-rally. It’s nine a.m. and already eighty two degrees outside. Fowler says it’ll be in the mid-nineties before onlookers start to trickle in.
“Even if they're not really big on politics, even if they've never voted before, are skeptical, skeptical of, you know, our democratic process, you know, empowering them to get involved In some way, whatever way, really works for them,” said Fowler.
And that effort includes some show biz. Today’s rally includes food trucks, vendors selling vintage clothes, and oh by the way, reminding people to vote. There’s also music… lots of music --
The Magnolia Breeze drumline has been featured on APR before. Many of the performers, between the ages of five and nineteen years old, are too young to vote in November. But many of the visitors making their way from one tent to the next will be able to cast a ballot. Some of the people we talked to seem sort of interested in the new District Two, then there’s Herman Thomas…
“I try to stay aware of what's going on,” he said.
Not only is Thomas braving the mid-afternoon heat today. Be he also sat through yesterday’s community meeting at the Holiday Inn…
“I thought that was interesting to listen to them and talk about some of the issues involving their involvement in their community, and send them some statewide issues,” said Thomas.
For Alabama Forward, Herman Thomas seems signed, sealed, and delivered for November.
“I see a lot of dancing and a lot of music going around. So I'm here to enjoy all of that in the community,” said Kiara McCants, who came for the show. She heard about today’s rally from a friend.
“I want to learn a lot. I see a lot of dancing and a lot of music going around. So I'm here to enjoy all of that in the community,” said McCants.
Deanna Fowler hopes Thomas, McCants, and everyone today goes away with more than buttons and bumper stickers. She says the answer to one personal question would be good…
“I think just a question of why they should vote if they don't like the candidates or they, you know, they're not excited about what they see on the ballot,” she said.
And that includes voters in Alabama’s new District Two in the U.S. House…
“But I would say yeah, definitely more wait and see,” said Jordan Stalworth at the start of our story. His family lives in rural Conecuh County in the middle of the district two. He says people are already wondering what the new House member they pick in November will do for them…
“Well, them mainly talking about the roads right now and all that, but that's more of a city thing. I'm still very new on that one also. So I can't give you too many answers on the broadband,” he said.
Up to this point, if African American voters in Alabama needed help, there’s one person in Congress they would typically call.
“I was shocked that the Milligan case was a five, four decision in favor of fair representation,” said U.S. House member Terri Sewell.
She’s Alabama only Democrat in Congress, and the only African American. That is, so far—maybe. A day in the life of Terri Sewell is next time.
Part 2— "A day in the life of Terri Sewell"
Voters in rural Alabama will cast historic votes this November. It’s the first time residents in the newly redrawn Congressional District two will pick their member of the U.S. House. It took a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court to create the new map to better represent African Americans in Congress. That’s what the high court seems to want. Now, let’s look at how things are and the impact that has on Terri Sewell. She’s the only Congressional Democrat in Alabama and the only African American…
“Everybody hear me? Can you hear me?” says Amanda Lopez. She’s a tour guide in a red coat. Lopez is checking the earphones worn by today’s group of visitors.
“You can’t hear me? Let me see…” she says.
Lopez needs a microphone to be heard. An average of ten thousand people crowd this spot every day. And the rotunda inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. creates an echo.
“But today, you see the room is filled with statues. There are about 35 state statues in this room. We the collection started in 1864, and over time, it's expanded,” said Capitol Communication specialist Jessica Wall.
I don’t need earphones as I head into Statuary Hall. My guide Jessica Wall used to be a tour guide, red coat and all. She works in the Capitol Communication Office now. She and I are just a few steps ahead of today onslaught of tourists.
“So you have chief Standing Bear of Nebraska. You have Thomas Edison from Ohio,” Wall pointed out.
I’m here to interview Alabama U.S. House member Terri Sewell. That’s a few hours away, so I stopped by the Capitol to see where she works. During our visit to statuary hall, Jessica Wall explains the rules on which sculptures get in
“You can pick someone born in your state, or someone who moved your state and did something important. So if anyone from New Jersey is listening and they're like, Wait, Edison, Ohio, it's okay, send us Frank Sinatra,” said Wall.
It’s clear Wall likes what she does. Especially when she talks about the hidden messages in these works of art…
“So the pedestal that President Reagan is standing on, you see those little rocky pieces. Those are pieces of the Berlin Wall,” she said.
Everything here is meant to capture a perfect moment. The statue of Abraham Lincoln stands near a brass plaque on the floor. It marks where he sat as a member of the U.S. House. Speaking of which…
“Our military's focus should be the protection of the American people and our freedoms, not liberals feelings,” said Republican Ralph Norman of South Carolina as thing got gritty on the House floor not far from Statuary Hall. The subject is the 2025 Defense Department Budget.
“Therefore, my amendment would eliminate any offices of DEI Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the armed forces, and then the DOD, we should focus on diversity of ideas and opinions, not races and genders," he added.
Norman’s not the only House member with an opinion on this.
“The gentlewoman from Alabama is recognized for two minutes…” said the presiding officer.
That gentlewoman is Terri Sewell. She’s the only Democrat in Alabama’s U.S. House delegation.
“But once again, Republicans are pushing poison pill amendments into our bipartisan defense bill focusing more on culture wars and division than on our national security,” said Sewell from the floor.
“You know, I have been in Congress gratefully for the last seven terms, and I've always voted in favor of the defense national defense authorization bill,” said Sewell after the dust settled, and we met with her in her office.
“All these amendments are coming back up from members, and makes it makes it difficult. You know, diversity is our strength, and so the attacks on being woke in the military and attacks against diversity, equity, inclusion, are just vicious and not helpful,” she said.
The day of our interview, Sewell cast her first ever no vote on the Defense budget bill. Fights on the House floor like the one you heard earlier may make the evening news. But, for voters Sewell’s district in Alabama, a lot of the work takes place here. Congressional intern Morgan Patrick mans the phones in Sewell’s office where she represents Alabama’s District seven. That’s in west central part of the State. But, it’s the calls that come from outside the district that’s the point.
“I grew up in Birmingham, and so I'm from the district,” said Robyn Gulley. She works in Sewell’s office, too. “I'm from the congresswoman is my member of Congress, so I'm a constituent and staffer, which is really cool.”
Gulley handles calls from constituents. Once the details are logged, Robyn Gulley goes to work ironing out the problems.
“And one of the things I've noticed, is that for people who live in parts of the for people who live in parts of our state that are not necessarily in the seventh congressional district, there are some of them that consider Congresswoman Sewell as their member of Congress,” Gulley observed.
And Gulley tries to be diplomatic on why an African American voter would call Democrat Terri Sewell for help instead of the white Republican in the district where they live…
“I think, I think that it's a matter of, I definitely think I can say this as a black voter like I think that it is a matter of, we trust you more,” she said.
But, taking calls from people from outside the district can get tricky. Federal agencies don’t technically have to anything if a House member is acting on behalf of someone they don’t represent. Sewell says it points to a bigger problem in Alabama…
“You know what it tells me is that there are not enough Alabamians here in Congress representing those views and those values,” said Representative Sewell. “And so it just means it to me, it just reinforces the reason why we need a second democratic seat in Alabama.”
And, that’s why having a new House member serving in the redrawn District Two is a big deal. Remember that fight over the Pentagon budget? Sewell spoke up because she’s a member of the House Armed Services Committee. She’s also on Ways and Means. Sewell says however wins Alabama’s District two could get something like Appropriations.
“It gives us an opportunity to divide and conquer, to be able to have better representation across the board for the shared values that that we're so, that we are so honored to be able to represent at decision making tables in Washington,” Sewell noted.
Campaign ads are airing to help the election go Terri Sewell’s way. Democrat Shomari Figures is campaigning to win the new District Two seat in the U.S. House. But, Republicans in Alabama are working to upset the political apple cart. There’s a new court challenge to flip District two back to the old map that favored the GOP. Also, Republican Caroleene Dobson is running against Figures. District Two is forty nine percent African American. But, over the summer, Dobson outspent her Democratic opponent three to one. We asked Terri Sewell, what happens if the GOP wins.
“I'd obviously be very disappointed, and I actually think that the Supreme Court would be disappointed at the end of the day,” said Sewell. “What they said was that Alabama should draw another district for fair representation that is either a majority minority district or something quite close to it.
Remember Jessica Wall from our tour of the U.S. Capitol? The day to day work here goes on leading up to the election that will leave Terri Sewell disappointed or not. During our tour with Wall, there were lots of statues and paintings. But, we also paused by a large window overlooking the west side of the Capitol. Construction crews are already busy building the platform where either President elect Harris or Trump will take the oath of office in January. There’s a good chance that House member elect Figueres or Dobson will be among the onlookers.
Part 3 "Minority business owners say 'think of us.'"
It’s not easy being a small business owner. That’s especially true for Black-owned businesses without generational wealth. The US Small Business Administration estimates less than one fifth of Alabama businesses are Black-owned. The numbers are even lower in the cities and counties that make up Alabama’s newly drawn Congressional District two. The APR news team has spent the last nine months looking into the issues surrounding the new District 2. Black business owners there say this election shape their future
It’s Friday and the phone is busy at Banks Memorial Funeral Home in Monroeville. This business is one of three Black-owned mortuaries in town. Owner Carole Banks is a fourth-generation funeral director carrying on the tradition her great grandfather started. But thirteen years ago she split off from the family business. Even with experience, it wasn’t easy.
“I wasn't drawing a paycheck for the first probably 10, 8 to 10 years that we opened the business. Because I was so focused on making sure this business survived,” Banks said.
A few miles away at Monroeville Seafood, 17-year-old D’Angelo Harrison works in his dad’s business after school. He’s worked here since the seventh grade and wants to take over one day. But like Banks, Harrison knows being a minority business owner has its challenges.
“A lot of people don’t see us making it but you know we don’t let these people you know tell us what we cannot do. We just keep our head up and we keep going,” he said.
Monroeville is just a snapshot of the black owned businesses in Alabama’s new Congressional District 2. The new voting map includes part of Mobile County - then stretches east - taking in 12 more counties all the way to the Georgia line. It also includes Montgomery. Though people of color make up almost half the district’s population, census data suggests in many of its rural counties, Black-owned businesses are too few or not visible enough to count. Carole Banks says it wasn’t always that way in Monroeville.
“That was about 15-20 years ago. And from doctors lawyers beauticians Funeral Directors mechanics gas stations grocery stores. We had all of that here,” she observed.
Charles Andrews is Monroeville’s first Black mayor. He says one reason for the recent lack of businesses is brain drain. Kids going off to college then settling elsewhere.
“They go back and they look and they see that there's really no opportunity for them in a rural, Black area,” said the Mayor. “So they leave.”
But Andrews and others who study minority businesses also know the problem in starting and keeping a business goes far deeper than loss of talent. A 2023 Pew Research Center report found in the U.S. the typical white household has more than nine times as much wealth as the typical Black family. Nisa Miranda Director Emerita at the University of Alabama Center for Economic development. She says banks are leery if a customer doesn’t have wealth to back up a loan.
“They’re going to be a lot stricter and a lot hard to convince you deserve a loan,” said Miranda, who adds that District Two’s rural counties have fewer and smaller banks than urban areas. “You’re not going to have the kinds of companies that have so much money to lend that they’re willing to take a risk on someone who is a question mark of whether they going to succeed or not,” she said.
Another risk for minority business owners? Sometimes small can be too small. Data from the US Small Business Administration shows almost all – 97% of Alabama’s Black-owned businesses are sole proprietor. Which means they don’t have employees. During the pandemic, that put many small businesses like Banks Memorial at a disadvantage when it came to getting pandemic assistance says Carole Banks.
“I didn’t qualify,” said Banks. “I didn’t have enough employees or something like that. But, here I am on the front line.”
Without support, it took longer for Banks’ business to recover. There are other obstacles standing in the way of success for Black-owned businesses in the new opportunity district. Lack of access to good broadband, public transportation, childcare, and knowledge of best business practices.
Leavie King wants fledgling Black business owners to understand the ins and outs of starting and keeping a business. A Black business owner himself, King is the project manager for Minority Build a Business Accelerator in Mobile. He developed the program after struggling with his own company.
"So I tell all aspiring entrepreneurs the first thing you need to do is you need to find a mentor,” said King.
The accelerator is a mentor of sorts. Every Tuesday night for 18 weeks, after working their day jobs, students meet to learn about the legal, financial, management, and marketing aspects of business ownership. When they graduate, they’re registered business owners.
Accelerator participant Kenya Coleman is a mom. She’s building a company in the trucking industry where she can work from home. She’s worried about money but says the accelerator has given her the confidence and tools to find funding.
"I'm actually setting up the business plan and setting up my pitch where I can go to a bank or an investor and pitch my business in a professional way,” said Coleman.
The accelerator is a joint effort between Mobile County and the Mobile Area Black Chamber of Commerce. The program is highly popular. In this class, almost 300 people applied for 15 slots. Federal dollars fund the accelerator. Leavie King believes if Democrat Shomari Figures wins November’s congressional race, his focus would be on identifying more of those resources.
“There are so many opportunities on the federal side that would bring funding to minority owned businesses in this District that we just don't even know about,” said Leavie King.
Neither the Figures nor Dobson campaign responded to APR’s request for an interview. But in a recorded Facebook Q&A Figures, who is also a minority business owner, says he wants to leverage federal funding to help small businesses – especially minority owned companies - with access to capital. And he talked about business accelerators.
“I would also like to see the federal government funding programs that actually teaches business owners to be business owners,” said Figures
Republican Caroleene Dobson says she’s in favor of helping small business by rolling back regulations. Here she is in an interview on Alabama Public Television.
“Regulations are killing small businesses throughout this district. Whether you’re talking about construction business or the nursing home business,” Dobson observed.
Whether rural or urban, minority business owners like Carole Banks are paying attention to the candidates. Banks says she wants a representative who will help her build generational wealth. And she wants more women and minorities in the district to have that same opportunity.
“Send us information,” Banks suggested. “Send us some knowledgeable incentives. Send us some grants. Just think about us.”
That kind of help from the federal government could depend on the District 2 election outcome. And turning campaign promises into action.
Part 4— "A two hour round trip to doctor"
Voters in one Alabama Congressional district will make history in November. They’ll cast their first ever votes for a newly redrawn seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Supreme Court ordered deep red Alabama to redraw its political map to better represent African Americans. The APR news team spent the better part of the year investigating issues impacting voters in the new District 2. One hits many close to home.
“My with my little girl, she broke her arm back in 2021, I think it was,” recalled Caila Savage, who lives in rural Mobile County in Alabama.
“It was a freak accident. She was rolling down the hill and her arm snapped in half,” she said.
Savage’s story has to do with rural heath.
“I think about an hour, maybe two hours, we had to wait on the ambulance to get to the hospital,” said Savage. “Then it was an hour ambulance ride to get her, I mean, and this is my five year old who has her arm snapped in half, having to wait all this, you know, oh, it was, it was crazy.”
Savage’s home town is Citronelle—population about four thousand. That may sound small, but maybe not to everybody.
“I live in Tibbie (Alabama.) A very, very, very small community with population on the census of 32,” said Meagan Carpenter. “We don't have a gas station, we don't have a store, we do have a postal office.”
To put everything into perspective, Meagan Carpenter is a doctor and Caila Savage is one of her patients. Both live in Alabama’s new U.S. House District two. But, that’s not where we are today. Carpenter explains why…
“For a bit of backstory, I still currently live in Alabama, but drive to Mississippi, currently to work. I currently work at Wayne General Hospital,” Carpenter explained.
We’re in Waynesboro Mississippi, just over the border from Alabama. Caila Savage has a blended family with five children. She also runs her own bakery. Here’s how today went…
”Well, like today, I had to get up at four o'clock today and get about four or five dozen cookies done, and then we had to get us ready, and then drive an hour to come to this appointment, and then however long this takes, and then I have to drive an hour back,” she said.
Savage travels to Mississippi because she can’t get the care she needs in rural Alabama. One issue is lack of doctors and hospitals. Another is the poverty rate. In rural Alabama, that runs about twenty percent,
“I even have some patients who it's like they storehouse medication because they're not sure when the next time they're going to be able to come see me,” said Carpenter. And, by “store housing” medicine, she means the patient only takes a pill when they feel sick…
“That does not mean that they're not having based on blood pressure issues. That just means they're not having a headache that day,”
And that’s not everything considered wrong with rural health in Alabama.
Obesity is, you know, a problem throughout the southern states,” said Doctor David Bramm. We met him at the annual conference of the Alabama Rural Health Association. He studies that subject at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. That includes all the ailments that go along with it…
“It (obesity) contributes to diabetes and heart disease and high blood pressure, which produce kidney failure, obesity and inactivity produce bad obstetrical outcomes, so that the quality of our children is diminished. So I think those are tobacco. Smoking is still a huge thing, tobacco use of any kind, but smoking is the worst.”
Talking about rural health is one thing. Fixing it is the other. More doctors may just be part of the answer. Bramm says there are also out of the box ideas like putting clinics in rural churches. He says even bribery has worked…
“The only way they got people to come in and be tested, because there was so much distrust in the black community, was to offer them $20,” recalled Bramm.
Bramm is referring to a tuberculosis outbreak in rural Alabama back in 2016.
“They offered the patients $20 to come in and be tested for TB, and that that worked. So maybe there's an incentive for a financial incentive for patients that might be entertained as well,” he said.
Back In Waynesboro, Mississippi, Caila Savage is getting ready for a check up. Promises of money from Washington are fine, but she and her neighbors are dealing with rural health challenges right now.
“We need specialists,” she said.
Savage has one medical specialty in mind. And the reason is her eighteen month old Allie Ray who’s along for a medical check of her own.
“Well, see, actually, when I was pregnant with my with my last one, that was a challenge, because my OB was also an hour away, and any type of paranoia that I was having judge to which we wait to a doctor appointment,” said Savage. “Or do we need to go and go to the ER because if something is happening, you don't want to wait till late, or, you know, too late and then be on the road for an hour to go get it checked out. So it was a constant paranoia on, should I go now, or should I wait?”
And for expectant mothers in Savage’s neck of the woods, life is getting more complicated with the recent closure of labor and delivery units in Monroe County and in the town of Grove Hill, not far from Savage’s home in Citronelle.
“I am from Clark County originally, so I do know a lot of people that were that were going there that um, did depend on that facility for their treatment, and had to, I mean, they were, like, seven and eight months pregnant. They were having to find a new doctor last minute. And, I mean, it was scary for them.”
And all of these patients need solutions, possibly from whoever gets elected to the new redrawn U.S. House Seat in district two.
The subject of rural health did come up at a mid October debate between Democrat Shomari Figures and Republican Caroleene Dobson. Figures took aim at GOP lawmakers who up to now have refused to expand Medicaid.
"If the state refuses to do that<' he said. "Then we have to look at ways to to get funding directly to the county level to at least provide some of the preventative care services that they would otherwise be able to receive if they have had the state expanded Medicaid."
Dobson took a different view, one that doesn’t involve money specifically to buck up rural health care in District two.
“Medicaid reimbursements, Medicare reimbursements, are not enough alone to continue to support our hospitals at the level that they need, that we have got to ensure that we have good paying jobs, that we have folks with private insurance that can reimburse at a higher level, and that we have an economic base," said Dobson.
“I don't, I don't, I don't see it," said Caila Savage on the subject of rural healthcare. She says having a hard time finding details online to go with the rhetoric….
“I'm having to, I have to, typically go search and see like, Okay, well, what are they wanting to do? What are they talking about? What? What change are they wanting to make?”
People tend to not care what poor rural people need or, I mean, they're just not a big voting block.
And Savage isn’t the only person you met in this story that’s less than optimistic. Doctor David Bramm at the University of Alabama at Birmingham doesn’t see much hope no matter which party wins…
“You know, certainly if the Democrats are elected, they're they're probably not going to do anything for Alabama. And if the Republicans elected, they probably won't do anything either. I hate to be cynical about that, but I just don't think that there's enough clout among those people to make material changes.
And, until change comes from Washington on rural health, Caila Savage will be getting up at 4 am, baking cookies, and making the two hour round trip to get the health care and her family needs. For APR news, I’m Pat Duggins in Waynesboro, Mississippi.
Part five— "How Gomillion versus Lightfoot" led the way.
Voters in rural Alabama will cast historic votes this November. It’s the first-time residents in the newly redrawn Congressional District two will pick their member of the U.S. House. It took a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court to create the new map to better represent African Americans in Congress. This may sound like a one-of-a-kind event, but it’s not. Back in 1960, the nation’s highest court heard an earlier case on the rights of black voters in that same part of Alabama.
“Number 32 CG, Gomillion and now Petitioner versus Phil M. Lightfoot as Mayor of the City of Tuskegee,” said a U.S. Supreme Court staffer back in 1960.
This is archival tape from the US Supreme Court. It's 1960 and the justices are hearing arguments in the case Gomillion versus Lightfoot.
“The argument of petitioners is divided into two parts,” the bailiff continued.
This recording is from the website Oyez.com. Some of the voices you're hearing include justices Earl Warren, Hugo black and William Brennan. There's also Fred Gray.
“We feel that the facts in this case, as alleged in the complaint, are so important,” said Gray at that time. He was 29 years old back in 1960. If his name doesn't ring a bell, some of his clients might be more familiar. Gray represented Dr Martin Luther King, Jr and Rosa Parks, among others.
“The action originated in the Federal District Court for the Middle District of Alabama,” Gray told the Justices.
Gomillion vs Lightfoot challenged voter boundaries in the city of Tuskegee, Alabama. The original map went from looking like a square to a 28-sided blob. Critics say it looked like a sea dragon.
“As I walked under the those chiseled words of the Supreme Court, we would see whether or not we would win,” said Gray during a recent interview with APR.
Fred Gray is 93 as he recalls the words that stuck with him as he headed to Washington in 1960.
“Gomillion v.Lightfoot is perhaps the most important civil rights case that I have had the privilege of handling,” he recalled for APR.
“The enactment of this statute is to deprive petitioners and the class they represent of the right to be residents of the city of Tuskegee to deny them the right to vote in municipal election solely because of their race.
Gomillion versus Lightfoot laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act the next year.
“We further alleged in the complaint that this exclusionary purpose and the effect is revealed, among other things, by the map and about other matters, which we shall call to the Court's attention as we proceed,” Gray continued in 1960.
“It was like, let's put a fight. Let's not just sit back and accept the maps that we've been given,” said Shalela Dowdy. She's one of the plaintiffs in Allen versus Milligan that created Alabama's new district two. The fire in dowdy's voice seems reminiscent of Fred Gray's and his work in the 1960s.
“A lot of people don't understand certain communities, and sometimes it's simply because they're not from those communities, because they can't relate to those communities, because they don't spend time in those communities,” said Dowdy.
But this current district two map and Alabama's Black Belt may not last. The state of Alabama is still defending its old map and is taking the case to trial in 2025.
“This is a class action instituted by 12 Negroes who are former residents in the city of Tuskegee, Alabama,” Gray continued before the Justices in 1960.
Fred Gray's goal was always to use the law to end segregation. In the 1960s it may be up to younger warriors like Shalela dowdy to keep fighting for maps that pull voters in not leave them out.
