When Shomari Figures took the oath of office last January, a first occurred in Alabama’s 205-year history: two Black politicians from Alabama were elected to the U.S. House at the same time.

But after a U.S. Supreme Court hearing last week, pundits are eyeing the likely return of a scenario that has not occurred in more than 30 years: Alabama may soon have zero Black Democratic representation in Congress.

Following a two-and-a-half-hour hearing on October 15 in Washington, D.C., the conservative-leaning Supreme Court signaled it may be poised to gut Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act in a nearly three-year-old redistricting case out of Louisiana. Section 2 prohibits election practices that deny or limit voting rights based on race, including racial gerrymandering.

The ramificati

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