Every Man’s Burden

‘THERE has been a transformation,” said Democratic congressman John Lewis of Georgia four years ago. “It’s a different state, it’s a different political climate, it’s a different political environment. It’s altogether a different world we live in.” Lewis was trying to explain why a congressional redistricting plan, drawn up by Democrats in Atlanta, was permissible under the Voting Rights Act. His argument, in essence, was that the Georgia of the 21st century was not the Georgia of the 1960s. “We’ve come a great distance,” he said. “It’s not just in Georgia, but in the American South I think people are preparing to lay down the burden of race.”

He was certainly right about that, especially with respect to his own state. When Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, little more than a quarter of Georgia’s black population was registered to vote, and only a handful of blacks held elective office. But today, as Lewis said, it’s an altogether different world: By the 1990s, black registration in Georgia roughly equaled white rates, and in several elections-most notably those of 2000 and 2004-blacks have been slightly more likely than whites to show up at the polls. And black politicians have enjoyed considerable success: Four serve in Congress, 50 have seats in the state legislature, and more than 600 hold local office. Significantly, of the 34 statewide elected offices in Georgia, nine are currently held by blacks, including that of the attorney general.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.

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‘THERE has been a transformation,” said Democratic congressman John Lewis of Georgia four years ago. “It’s a different state, it’s a different political climate, it’s a different political environment. It’s altogether a different world we live in.” Lewis was trying to explain why a congressional redistricting plan, drawn up by Democrats in Atlanta, was permissible under the Voting Rights Act. His argument, in essence, was that the Georgia of the 21st century was not the Georgia of the 1960s. “We’ve come a great distance,” he said. “It’s not just in Georgia, but in the American South I think people are preparing to lay down the burden of race.”

He was certainly right about that, especially with respect to his own state. When Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, little more than a quarter of Georgia’s black population was registered to vote, and only a handful of blacks held elective office. But today, as Lewis said, it’s an altogether different world: By the 1990s, black registration in Georgia roughly equaled white rates, and in several elections-most notably those of 2000 and 2004-blacks have been slightly more likely than whites to show up at the polls. And black politicians have enjoyed considerable success: Four serve in Congress, 50 have seats in the state legislature, and more than 600 hold local office. Significantly, of the 34 statewide elected offices in Georgia, nine are currently held by blacks, including that of the attorney general.

About the Author

John J. Miller

John J. Miller, a former national correspondent for National Review, is the director of the Dow Journalism Program at Hillsdale College. He is the author of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.