FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS CONTACT: Darcy Hirsh, National Council of Jewish Women, dhirsh@ncjw.org

With the Supreme Court’s decision in Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP allowing South Carolina to adopt a racially gerrymandered map, National Council of Jewish Women Government Relations and Advocacy Director Darcy Hirsh issued the following statement.

“The Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold South Carolina’s racially gerrymandered voting districts is a blow to fundamental democratic rights. By creating voting districts that purposely dilute the voting power of Black voters, the state legislature denied those voters an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. More than 26% of the population is Black and yet in six of seven districts, Black voters are not able to elect the candidates of their choice given the gerrymandered map. 

“National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) condemns today’s decision which contradicts past Supreme Court rulings that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional. Jewish texts teach that our well-being is tied to that of our community; we must take part in building the nation we want and must speak up when we see harm. This is our mandate as Jews. NCJW will continue to mobilize our 210,000 advocates across the country to ensure equitable access to the ballot box and realize the promise of our democracy.”

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