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| | *Virginia | | *Virginia |
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| − | ===States Having Counties that Are Covered=== | + | ===States Having Counties or Townships that Are Covered=== |
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| | *California (counties) | | *California (counties) |
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| | *South Dakota (counties) | | *South Dakota (counties) |
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| − | The U.S. Supreme Court has taken a big case from Alabama that challenges the Voting Rights Act, and by June 2013 is expected to render a decision that may trim back the scope or influence of this law. | + | The U.S. Supreme Court has taken a big case from Alabama that challenges the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act, and by June 2013 is expected to render a decision that may trim back the scope or influence of this law. |
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| | == Busing == | | == Busing == |
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| | New Jersey was not as affected by this as other States were. "Busing" was ordered when there was evidence that a school district had been segregating students by race in the past. Public schools build after the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' decision were not subjected to busing because segregation was already illegal, and the public school district would not have a history of segregation. But older public school districts, particularly in the South and some parts of the Midwest, which had segregated students by race in the past and were not fully integrated by the 1960s, could be sued in federal court and ordered to implement busing of students based on their race. | | New Jersey was not as affected by this as other States were. "Busing" was ordered when there was evidence that a school district had been segregating students by race in the past. Public schools build after the ''Brown v. Board of Education'' decision were not subjected to busing because segregation was already illegal, and the public school district would not have a history of segregation. But older public school districts, particularly in the South and some parts of the Midwest, which had segregated students by race in the past and were not fully integrated by the 1960s, could be sued in federal court and ordered to implement busing of students based on their race. |
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| − | Busing soon became an enormously controversial, and even affected the presidential elections in 1968 and 1972. In the summer of 1972, Congress passed a law delaying any orders by federal courts to desegregate public schools until all appeals were heard and decided. This prevented a single federal judge from forcing neighborhoods to bus their children to distant schools. A few months later, in the presidential election in November 1972, Nixon was elected in a landslide based in part on his criticism of busing. He swept the southern states that had traditionally been Democratic. | + | Busing soon became an enormously controversial, and even affected the presidential elections in 1968 and 1972. In the summer of 1972, Congress passed a law delaying any orders by federal courts to desegregate public schools until all appeals were heard and decided. This prevented a single federal judge from forcing neighborhoods to bus their children to distant schools. A few months later, in the presidential election in November 1972, Nixon was elected in a landslide based in part on his criticism of busing. He swept the southern states that had traditionally been controlled by Democrats. |
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| | Today, there is rarely mention of "busing", and it has mostly disappeared. But racial politics remains the most powerful issue in politics and law to this day. A single comment about ethnicity can destroy a politician or anyone connected with the media. Many people have lost their job because of a single racial remark, no matter how much they try to explain or apologize for it. | | Today, there is rarely mention of "busing", and it has mostly disappeared. But racial politics remains the most powerful issue in politics and law to this day. A single comment about ethnicity can destroy a politician or anyone connected with the media. Many people have lost their job because of a single racial remark, no matter how much they try to explain or apologize for it. |
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| − | In 2002, the Senate Majority Leader was the Republican Trent Lott, from Mississippi. At the 100-year birthday party of fellow Senator Strom Thurmond from South Carolina, Lott may a statement designed to flatter Thurmond: | + | In 2002, the Senate Majority Leader was the Republican Trent Lott, from Mississippi. At the 100-year birthday party of fellow Senator Strom Thurmond from South Carolina, Lott made a statement designed to flatter Thurmond: |
| | {{cquote|I want to say this about my state. When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over these years, either.}} | | {{cquote|I want to say this about my state. When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over these years, either.}} |
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| − | Do you see why that short statement caused Trent Lott to resign as Senate Majority Leader? Think about this before reading the answer in the next paragraph. | + | Do you see why that short statement forced Trent Lott to resign as Senate Majority Leader? Think about this before reading the answer in the next paragraph. |
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| | Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948, before ''Brown v. Board of Education'' ended racial segregation in public schools, and Strom Thurmond support racial segregation in schools as part of his campaign positions. The media then accused Lott of being a racist by saying the Nation would have been better off if Thurmond had won. Lott apologized repeatedly and profusely for his statement, and did not mean fo it to be a racist remark, but the media attention and controversy forced him to resign his leadership position, and about five years later he resigned from the Senate altogether. | | Strom Thurmond ran for president in 1948, before ''Brown v. Board of Education'' ended racial segregation in public schools, and Strom Thurmond support racial segregation in schools as part of his campaign positions. The media then accused Lott of being a racist by saying the Nation would have been better off if Thurmond had won. Lott apologized repeatedly and profusely for his statement, and did not mean fo it to be a racist remark, but the media attention and controversy forced him to resign his leadership position, and about five years later he resigned from the Senate altogether. |