WASHINGTON - The Voting Rights Act that goes on trial at the
Supreme Court on Wednesday has helped boost African Americans'
presence in Southern legislatures. But in a twist of irony, it
also has contributed to their loss of political clout. Since its
passage in 1965, the law's Section 5 has forced states with a
history of racial discrimination to clear changes in voting
procedures with the federal government. The Justice Department,
in turn, has insisted that drawing district lines is one of
those procedures ‚?? one that should give blacks and other
minorities ample opportunity to elect their preferred
candidates. That has led to the creation of so-called majority-
minority election districts dominated by blacks or Hispanics,
nearly all of them Democrats. Achieving that goal, however, has
required the simultaneous creation of more heavily white,
Republican districts in surrounding areas. Although the Voting
Rights Act has played a major role in the South's racial
transformation, it also has played a supportin