Stacey Abrams and the Left Redefine Jim Crow

House Speaker Mike Johnson probably thought his restatement of the logic that led a majority of Supreme Court justices to declare majority-minority districts unconstitutional was relatively banal. When asked to respond to his remarks, however, perennial candidate Stacey Abrams saw the pernicious prejudice embedded in Johnson’s rejection of discrimination “on the basis of race.”

“He’s saying it brings back 1964, 1963, 1892,” Abrams said of the Supreme Court decision and Johnson’s appreciation of it. “Race neutrality has never been neutral,” she added. Indeed, Abrams listed the many ways in which black Americans were disenfranchised in the past: poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause (in which one could bypass racial voting restrictions if one’s ancestors were allowed to exercise the franchise prior to the Civil War).

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson probably thought his restatement of the logic that led a majority of Supreme Court justices to declare majority-minority districts unconstitutional was relatively banal. When asked to respond to his remarks, however, perennial candidate Stacey Abrams saw the pernicious prejudice embedded in Johnson’s rejection of discrimination “on the basis of race.”

“He’s saying it brings back 1964, 1963, 1892,” Abrams said of the Supreme Court decision and Johnson’s appreciation of it. “Race neutrality has never been neutral,” she added. Indeed, Abrams listed the many ways in which black Americans were disenfranchised in the past: poll taxes, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause (in which one could bypass racial voting restrictions if one’s ancestors were allowed to exercise the franchise prior to the Civil War).

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.