Districts for Americans, Not Races

Daily Update - May 11, 2026

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Episode summary:

The Supreme Court just told Louisiana that race-based congressional districts have gone too far, striking down a map built to guarantee a Democrat in a majority-Black seat. In this Daily Update, we walk through how one 200‑mile‑long district was engineered to pack Black voters together and why the Court called it racial gerrymandering. We also look at how Louisiana and Tennessee are already scrambling to redraw their maps, with some proposals cutting majority-Black districts down to one or eliminating them entirely. Finally, we dig into Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent and explain why race-based districts insult both basic civics and the civil-rights vision of Americans being treated equally under the law.

What you’ll learn / Key moments

00:00 – Why congressional districting is “not just a black and white issue”
00:11 – How Louisiana’s 200‑mile race-based district was engineered and why the Court struck it down as racial gerrymandering
00:40 – Louisiana’s and Tennessee’s rapid redistricting moves after the ruling
01:01 – Why building districts around skin color clashes with what we’re taught about being represented as Americans first
01:33 – Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent and what it reveals about the left’s view of Black voters
01:57 – Why race-based districts and “special chances” for certain voters are ultimately insulting and un-American

What You Can Do

If you believe representation should be based on citizenship, not skin color, now is the time to pay attention to redistricting fights in your own state. Learn how your congressional lines are drawn, show up at public hearings, and let lawmakers know you oppose race-based districts that divide Americans by color. Share this episode with friends who still think racial gerrymandering is “fairness,” and push your elected officials to defend one standard of representation for everyone.

Turns out congressional districting is not just a black and white issue.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Monday, May 11, 2026.

Last week the Supreme Court ruled against Lousiana’s race-based congressional map, declaring the majority-Black districts constituted “racial gerrymandering.” At the heart of the issue was the 6^th Congressional district for Louisiana – which was actually created just a few years ago for the exact same reason as to why it was it was just shut down – a deliberate and very sketchy district that stretched for 200 miles to concentrate the Black vote in a Black candidate who was always going to be a Democrat.

In response, Louisiana almost immediately started work on redistricting. One plan brings majority black districts down to one – another eliminates them almost entirely. Tennessee on Friday immediately eliminated the 9^th District – again a majority black district – and spread it out over three other districts.

If all this seems confusing to you – it should – because from elementary school on we are taught that we are represented in Congress by the fact that we are Americans – not white, black, brown or any other skin color you might care to name. The idea of lumping people into districts based on the color of their skin is not only racist, but it flies in the face of everything civil rights activists have stood for – that we are Americans first, that no one in our country should be denied, nor elevated, because of the color of his or her skin.

In her dissent read from the bench, Justice Elana Kagan – joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson – stated:

Members of the racial minority can still go to the polls and cast a ballot. But given the State’s racially polarized voting, they cannot hope—in the way the State’s white citizens can—to elect a person whom they think will well represent their interests.

How absurd. Blacks in America should feel insulted that Justice Kagan – and every other Democrat – think so lowly of Blacks that they have to be given special chances – and special districts – in order to get a Black person elected.

But then again, they also think that Blacks are not smart enough to get an ID for voting – so their outrage should surprise no one.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.

Reuel Sample is the Editor-in-Chief of The Wilmington Standard. A graduate of Grove City College and Princeton Theological Seminary, he has served as both a Presbyterian Pastor and a Navy Chaplain. He is the product of a classical liberal arts education combined with real world experience in politics and business and conservative Christian worldview firmly rooted in the Reformed tradition. He is the host of several podcasts including the NHC GOP Podcast, the Pastor's Voice, and co-hosts the Nikki and Reuel Podcast Experience. An avid sailor, he has sailed around the world as a youth and to the Azores as a teen as well as extensive trips up and down the east coast of the United States. He is honored to be married to his wife Pam and makes his home in Wilmington, NC.