politics
May 2, 2026
Viral fearmongering after Court rules on racial gerrymandering
After the third assassination attempt against the president — who, for his part, calls his political opponents ‘traitors’ and demands their hanging — cooler heads are finally prevailing and taking the rhetorical temperature of our political discourse down.
TL;DR
- Viral social media content is spreading misinformation about a recent Supreme Court ruling concerning race and gerrymandering.
- False claims include that the ruling makes racial discrimination in elections constitutional or brings back Jim Crow laws.
- The Supreme Court affirmed that the Constitution prohibits intentional racial discrimination.
- The ruling suggests that gerrymandering diluting racial voting blocs is not unconstitutional if politically motivated, not racially.
- Intentionally designing districts to increase black representation is deemed unconstitutional racial discrimination.
- The author argues that potential decreases in black representation will be due to partisan gerrymandering and the fact that most black representatives are Democrats, not a return to historical oppression.
- The spread of doomsday rhetoric and fearmongering online is misleading and inflames political tensions.
- Racist remarks, particularly targeting Justice Clarence Thomas, were also noted in the online discourse.