Earlier this year, the great State of Texas was at the center of a backhanded attempt at rigging.
The process has a fancy name. They call it gerrymandering with a big fat eye to 2026 Midterms. Now, here’s how it works. Every State has a Congressional map. According to law, because of population growth, this map may be redrawn every 10 years after a population census to reflect new demographics. Any attempt to do it at any other time would be considered rigging. Who does not know that these are not normal times in America?
The Supreme Court itself is already gerrymandered, no small thanks to Mitch McConnel who successfully stalled the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court by withholding the process for an entire year. Whilst speaking from the other side of his mouth, he famously lifted the Senate’s own rules on the Filibuster to railroad and ramrod the appointment of Amy Comey in an even shorter election year situation.
At issue here are three key situations—-Voting Rights, Executive Impunity and Minority Protections. No matter what the issue is, everyone must look to the Supreme Court of the United States to deliver justice ultimately. Let’s examine their record on race issues.
Is the Law Really an Ass or is it men that are Asses?
In 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that descendants of Slaves could not be citizens of the United States. This evil was eventually cured by the 14th Amendment which was made to be ratified by former Confederate States as a condition for representation in Congress. Despite the fact that the 14th Amendment had conferred full citizenship rights on former slaves and their descendants, the question may then be asked—-what laws were the Justices of the Supreme Court looking at when they ruled in 1896, to affirm segregation in Plessey v Ferguson thus entrenching Jim Crow in their infamous ruling termed ‘Separate but equal.?’ Commonsense was supposed to point to a unanimity of opinion in favor of “Equal Protection under the law” as stated without equivocation in the 14th Amendment.
Fast forward to 1954, 58 years later, a fresh Supreme Court ruled on the same matter which became Brown v Board of Education, Topeka, that Schools cannot be separate and equal at the same time.
The Supreme Court is made up of humans. They must, whether they know it or not, take the temperature of society in rendering verdicts. We must sympathize with them. We have given them roles reserved for deities, whereas, they are mere men.
Let’s take a real live example. Eisenhower, a Republican President appointed Earl Warren, a former Republican governor of California to be Chief Justice upon the death of Chief Justice P.M. Vinson, a rabid pro-segregation supporter, notably appointed by President Truman, (Democrat).
Eisenhower invited Chief Justice Earl Warren to a dinner at the White House to give him a hint about how he wanted the Brown v Board of Education case to go. These were his words:
“All they, (Southerners) are concerned about is to see that their sweet little girls are not required to sit in school alongside some big overgrown Negroes.”
In talking about this era many years later, here’s what Eisenhower had to say about his appointment of Earl Warren—-he called it “his biggest damned-fool mistake,” and dove headlong to call Earl Warren a “dumb son of a bitch.”
To the Civil Rights movement, Earl Warren was their “son of a gun”—the messiah of an era. Look at the signature achievements—Desegregation, Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Miranda Rights, Interracial marriages, freedom of speech, separation of Church and State, etc, etc. These rulings came to be defining moments for American humankind.
Associate Justice Frankfurter in describing the death of Chief Justice Vinson said, “If I did not believe in God before, now, I do.” In other words, if Chief Justice Vinson had not died, Brown v Board of education would never have become a reality.
On Affirmative Action: The Court previously upheld race-conscious admissions (e.g., Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003) but recently ended race-based admissions in higher education (Students for Fair Admissions, 2023), favoring a “colorblind” approach.
In Alabama v. Shapiro (2024): the Supreme Court allowed states to draw electoral maps that may dilute minority votes, weakening Voting Rights Act protections.
As things stand today, despite the obvious purpose of the State of Texas in drawing maps mid-decade; despite the obvious dilution of minority votes; despite the fact that a lower court in a 2-1 ruling had held that the redistricting was racially biased, the Supreme Court
has put a pause on the lower court’s ruling, thus allowing Texas to bulldoze along. It is to be seen how the redistricting case in California which is a direct response to Texas is going to play out with the same Supreme Court.
At the end of the day, we must take a good look at what Lord Denning had to say about the law: “So long as I did what I thought was just, I was content. I could sleep at night. But if I did what was unjust, I stayed awake worrying.”
Again, this is what another Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court, Robert H. Jackson had to say in 1953—“We are not final because we are infallible but we are infallible because we are final.”
There, you go!
Democracy under Attack.
West African countries are in a hurry to turn back the hand of the clock with the might of the gun just as much as Americans are in a race to turn back the hand of the clock on voting rights and protections for minorities. In Texas, Whites constitute 40 percent of the population but they have drawn maps to enable them control 70 percent of the Congressional districts.
On the other hand, in West Africa, a group of soldiers wake up every now and then and decide it’s time to put an end to democracy. A few have succeeded and consolidated power like Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, etc. Recently, Guinea Bissau joined that league while an attempted coup at next door neighbor, Benin Republic was foiled by Nigerian forces. Credit must be given to President Tinubu for this. Once more, it is a good thing to see Nigeria flexing its muscle in the West African subcontinent. It should make us proud.
Guinea Bissau may yet be reversed as its coup is still in its infancy.
Christmas is here once again. Security issues continue to loom large around the country and in Edo State despite the Governor’s heavy investment in security infrastructure.
Edo is under seige simultaneously on many fronts—from the forests of Ohordua to the outskirts of Auchi to the bustling city of Ekpoma to the exit out of Benin City at Ekiadolor. Miscreant kidnappers may be out to unleash hell on the populace.
The governor must send a signal to them that there is only one Sheriff in this State.
In another troubling pattern, the rains in Edo have refused to go away to make room for the governor to fix inner-city roads. December is also a time of finalities as it signals the end of the year and the inevitable march of time. To all our elected leaders and appointed leaders, here’s our plea. Time is no one’s friend. Whatever you have to do, do quickly.
Dear readers, we at Egogonewshub must take a break. Barring any serious breaking news, God sparing our lives, we should see again sometime in January, 2026 when we will be debuting a Podcast called “Your Voice.” It is a partnership between Orobosa Ojo of the Midwest Herald and Michael Ovienmhada of Egogonewshub. Merry Christmas ahead and a very Happy New Year.
