Republican legislators in South Carolina are advancing a redistricting plan that would effectively eliminate the state's only majority-Black congressional district, threatening to end the political career of James Clyburn, the state's sole Black congressman since Reconstruction and one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington.
The proposed map would carve up South Carolina's 6th Congressional District, which Clyburn has represented since 1993, dispersing its Black voters among surrounding Republican-held districts. The move has drawn immediate comparisons to Jim Crow-era tactics designed to dilute African American voting power.
"This is Jim Crow 2.0," said Clyburn, the former House Majority Whip who played a pivotal role in Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory with his endorsement before the South Carolina primary. "What they're doing is using the redistricting process to silence Black voices in this state."
The 6th District, stretching from Charleston to the state's eastern border, has sent a Black representative to Congress for most of the past three decades. Clyburn, now 84, holds immense influence in the Democratic Party and has been a key broker in legislative negotiations, from infrastructure bills to social spending packages.
Republican state legislators defend the redistricting as necessary to reflect population shifts documented in the 2020 Census. South Carolina has seen significant growth in its coastal counties and suburban areas around Columbia and Greenville, they argue, requiring adjustments to maintain equal population across districts.
But voting rights advocates and legal experts say the plan violates both the spirit and potentially the letter of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits redistricting that discriminates on the basis of race. The Supreme Court has issued conflicting signals on such cases in recent years—striking down some racial gerrymanders while allowing states greater latitude in drawing political maps.
