Anguilla Line Consolidated School District Desegregation Plan
Public Court Documents
August 10, 1969

8 pages
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Case Files, Thornburg v. Gingles Working Files - Guinier. Legal Research on Congressional Record S6956-S6958, 1982. 67d35cc6-e092-ee11-be37-6045bdeb8873. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/cf938ff0-39ed-4e6d-88ba-3b358c6dd26b/legal-research-on-congressional-record-s6956-s6958. Accessed August 19, 2025.
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"" ‘ a“! M ' ' My concern 5 Ehat u wholly newsp- ‘ proach to voting is being created 2 under section 2. ”So it is simply not f true that we are talking about a. l simple extension of the 1985 Voting . Rights Act. We are now entering into an em. in the United States during which. by set of Congress, we will guarantee election results based upon race. I think people ought to reflect long and hard as to whether we are head- ing in a. gooidirectiomAnd. it we are. e Mr. President, then I would query. should we not also apply this principle to sex. or religion. or national origin? I query how far you can go with this principle. Instead of guaranteeing the right of every American to register and to vote and to have that vote counted. 3. right no American today in this country. I think, would question. should we now go‘doWn the perilous path of guaranteeing election results? We will the new standard the results , or effects test. as opposed to. the: “misfit: if , ' . - .-- _.;;-._’ ‘ It all this is conjusinz WWI-8,0: to anyone else trying tq follow thu- 'somex‘thstcomplex 13:0th 7018 I are really voting for. if you, vote for the bfitu-Jt- m withosztznmene - mengis‘ to any them {mango £180“:ngan elections’in this; f x i try. Wuafisueh-s‘systcm would ‘ our electoral system andeculd consti- " Jute. .31 fundamental. densrtme'Jrom ' r7 American tradition, _ . T hill-Melt to'illustntc what barn tn};- Without .‘Here__is_wha.t the not sn’ :8 vqw-. ... 1 "June 17, 1982 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -— SENATE “ ‘ 7 ' ' S6957 3? to nomination or electionin the State or 90' what they want to do is to leave open back to the Founding Fathers. the liticai subdivision are not equally open to to the courts the option of imposing a whole Madisonian concept 0! democra~ Pm‘CmW” by members °‘ 3 “85‘ °‘ at" remedy based upon race or color—a cy, under which you have to build ”“3 ”maimed by subsection ‘8'" quota. ' broadbased constituencies and. repre- The PRESIDING OFFICER W1“ When you talk about race relations sent them. Under our system. success- .. the Senator from North Gamma in the United States. you enter into 9. {ul politicians build consensus and please suspend? sensitive area. and it ought to be. But must mold their support together. Our . The Senate isnot lnorder. Will Sen- we should be able to talk candidly President is forced to bring his sup— 7’5 3‘0“ please take their °°nyersaii°n3 about our problems in public. I think porters together. We can only elect ' "2" ‘0 “19 “WWW-The SEWER???“ the many great. dLstinzuished black one and to win he has to build a bi‘oad ' U... be heard. . " ""'VOtcrs"ln‘this country-Would show 001,11, consensus. Generally. we consider 4~ Mi- EAST- The “mime" “35" M" cern about altering the election proo- building'concénsusto‘ be a good idea. .. President. under section (a) is com- ess to establish a quota. system {or the The problem with proportional repre. posed of citizens Whose right to Vote beneilt Of aparticulu 01353. sentauon 13 that it Wm tend ’to frag- has been denied 0' abridged on 30' For example. Mr. President. YO“ ment. tend to exacerbate differences count or race °f ”1°" C0u1d turn the 00111 around. Let “8 835'. between races or religions or sexes. It The “’5‘ thing the law does is to for example, that I am part 01 the m1‘ will not encour e harmon ' it will :1 create aprotected class of voters based noflty white population in a district bring people assume“ gownmnfifi only . “9°“ race 01' 0°10" The ‘3‘“ then represented by one 01 the distin- - representation poses an interesting describes what voting discrimination guished black Representatives m the problem. a {mmatmg one. And frank. means. . House of Representatives. Let “8 say ly. the concept deserves more substan- ln that its members have less opportunity that this legislator represented a dis- tive analysis than I have seen the pro- ‘1 Lfitlfigge meggep'gngfmilhpagcgcmmte t° trict that was 70 percent black and 30 ponents of this thing exhibit so m- ' percent white. - ' a Andtmsmhekevsentence- We might well contend it a white siiet‘é‘é‘ni‘iog‘l°§3§i£§‘$ x‘dfifii “ and to elect representatives of their Gimme: had never been elected in such a dis- think so I think it is 5 ve}, ser‘ous the extent to which members of a protected trict. if. year after year. 3 black were proposition. Some may wonder. “Siam," class h we be elected to office in the State , or poligttlcal sinbdlvision is one circumstance elected. that. would be evidence Of dls' tor. why do you want to make this : which ma 'be considered; provided. that crimination. Such ‘3 not the case. N“ amendment? Why are you 01113 on «3. nothing inythis section establishes a right to 3" 311° What would be evidence or (“5‘ this way? Why not just drop igt and let have members at aprotected class elected in. culmination and violation of my rights us mum“ it through and be done numbers equal to their proportion in the as a. white person under the 15th with it?” I tell you why Mr Fred. population. amendment would be denial of my dent—because in a month.or 2'0, 3 of The disclaimer that is in here. Mr. right to register. to vote. and, to have 6 or 2 or 4 or 5 or 6 years down the President. deals with the very narrow my vote counted. But certainly. no one road all of this ,3 going to come into problem or the right to totally equal would argue that I. as a single citizen. me 50m. and n ,5 going to come back proportional representation. but what could expect to come into the courts to haunt the electoral process. it does not rule out is the imposition and say my particular racial grouping Then the American people, who of quotas. something less than that. or has been discriminated against it this probably are not following our ' the imposition o! proportional repre- only evidence 1 have to offer is that we debate-I do not blame them they are sentation as a remedy by the courts. have not been successful at the polls. busy—are going to say how in the BY the clear ““90“ 0f the language. it Think “0“" that. M" President. , world did we get this tormented mint! ..-, , yourcan show that the members of the This new approach is a large. quantum That Wm be 8 good question. I no 8 protected'class have not hadmembers. jumpbeyond the intent and the pur- we will hit the important issues ML of their class elected, and it you can pose of the 15th amendment; lithe, rompmpomomr reprwmucm me show any other scintilla of alleged dls- American people want to take such a need for consmmom memeng --___,, -— _ crimination, the court would clearly. lump. they ought to do so through & protected classes. and more tom under the language of this act. be in a constitutional amendment and not _ _‘ But to act so suddenly. so indirectly. position to impose some sort of quota through a simple act 0f the 16:1318- without. substantive debate. reflection in order to insure that a given election ture. , or consideration. I think is ill-advised or election process is free from alleged Again. to try to put this whole for :5 Chamber that prides use]: on discrimination based upon race or matter into persvective. why would we . color.“ - , . . . 7 not. Mr. President. want to insure pro- :fmmlppigstegly tiled-greatest W . . What does my amendment purport portional representation in the caseot ve y all“ _ to do? It purports. Mr. President: to sex? I look at this distinguished body.- M’- Pw‘ident. i Doint out that in clarity. categorically.’ that no. court One hundred Members—98 men and 2 Federalist NO- 5’ where “78.113918 the ' ‘ may impose a. quota or» pmportional women. Are these numbers evidence of W“ principles °‘ °“’ Constitution 59" . representation based. uponhrace or discrimination against women? Per- mm‘ by the Founding “that the ‘ -. -. colorao-o- remedl ill--3 case brought have. r do not know. The problem is theoretical meaning ”id ”8813 i0? 0“! "*"" .. . ,_' ' ' act. :, ~ . ’ ' -. that the 15th amendment gives every- system'Alexander Hamilton make it. * ~ 1"mldt'sasnmcug-then; that every-_--ooa-mo.hgm to resist . to vote. and clear tin-t we shouid not have protect- . Senator'- would be willing to support have’th‘at vote counted but, does not. “13"me “3.9135363 Like him I, t 'Efliiondmenle-becausel dmany guarantee that a particular sex will believe“. proportional; representation 5. vgmtwmw succeed at the polls. Maybe elsewhere... “mild. tend i0 13me factions and. ‘ ' " ‘ * ’ AW'mnwbut not silhepollh, .. ' .- -. disharmony-Tile emote! estabusmnc _mremtw =1 do not mean to malts light otthe truancy: principle it 3.0!“ to be. . W problem. Proportional. representationaflim-WW 0mm 1“ WLWT ., gunmangoodides and perhaps wallets.” and the Univuniwfof Clinton 11. .. , to. clarifii‘wm, ought to think abdut*’introducing~itenint_hfl§4£§i£3te¢_jjnm~ enact statutememidr Presidentisto into the electoral system 01 this coon. , commits over inflow . . - ,w': M up the lawihatacwrtoannot‘ Frey; Perhaps we should.set'_out..those, “i0“ in 9190“?“ We“ ”WWW“ ' . . ‘ poseéiflomrtigmiztgmwnn as: .mtesonen tint-oughtto be reoresenh m “3’ “Men“ ”mm-“‘9'“? ~ -_._ - -- -‘ Thenweosa. . ‘ " ' espmponionaliy. There.m'poliueol-_ mtua.°i*,.certain.mum¥idm ' ‘ ‘ " ' Europe thatrequire propel-sir, minis-sasetoynsieninnr .. . , » ""‘-:;::':;:~.: 1;; ;_-'I'hgi;i.isi, gufngtcmgh . ._ . _ A . . 1:1:iieoteithisiaws: 4' ' . snowmlidnpresl ' 111th“; _ lwmmiampoini-om m..— ~wnytzifeoae°l “ ' .. thudoubm- -' ‘ . ~*~~'—~~'~-»-»n~ar—»aro.-;.~c. m . u=-=;v;s.es'+w:‘:";xm S 6958 in the so-oalled affected States. of which North Carolina is one—there are 22 in all—this effects or results test. is already being applied. It is being applied in North Carolina today. It has placed our election system in North Carolina in considerable tur- moil throughout this year because the Attorney General's office has. through the Civil Rights Division. been requir- ing- that electoral district lina. be drawn by the State legislature to maximize the potential for black mi- didates to win. I have no objection to black candl- dates winning. I think it is a fine idea. I simply point out that you begin to get into the troubled waters when you require State and local governments so to establish their legislative districts as to guarantee certain election out- comes—results or effects. as it is . called—you make an enormous change in the election process. Mr. President. I shall be happy at this point to hear a response from the distinguished proponents of this meas- ure. Am I under a delusion? Again. 1 submit. not on a fair reading of the language or an examination of what has happened in the affected States. - We in the affected States have al- ready seen what section 2 will do. The principles of law that once applied ex- clusively to us will now be extended nationwide. That'is what is newrabout what we are doing. Perhaps the propo- nents of this legislation would like to respond to our concern. If I might. before I yield to the distinguished Sen- CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE In the newest Senate plan. Reynolds said District 2 in northeastern North Carolina with n black population of 51.7%. should have been drawn to have a black population of at least 55%. And here is why. He said: "Our analysis shows that during the Senate Redistricting Committee‘s considera- tion of this district it was widely recognized that at least 55-": black population was nec- essary it black voters were to have a reason- able chance of electing a candidate of their choice." ‘ ' ' Now. that is about as clear as you can make it with the English lan- guage. Where is William Bradford Reynolds getting his authority? F‘rom section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. ‘Nhat are we about to do if we do not amend the bill before us? We are about to take that same standard and put it in section 2 and make it apply nationwide. . What is the practical effect? Again, to offer an invitation to the courts to impose quotas as a remedy. There is no question about it; this law is going to jeopardize at-large elections. It is going to jeopardize annexations. It is going to jeopardize anything that tends to "dilute minority voting strength." Again. like every Senator in this Chamber. I will happily support any reasonably adopted rxieasure de- signed to guarantee the right of American citizens under the 15th amendment to register and to vote and to have that vote counted. but I cannot in good conscience say I can vote for, a bill that has a. provision guaranteeing that a "protected class" will be succesful at the polls. June 17, 1.982 register and vote and have that vote counted. There is not a single Member of this Senate quarreling with that principle. including myself. lest there by any misunderstanding. I should like to think that this body is at its best when it deliberates and discusses. and tries to get answers to, hard questions. From the beginning 1 have been looking forward to this op- portunity to’hear'Whal: can‘be said inw defense of this law. why it is a good ' idea. how we could justify it. I should like to quote an editorial from my hometown paper. I note that this paper is a very strong Democratic paper. and. as I have previously said, this paper supported John Kennedy for President in 1960. I might even add that it did not endorse your humble servant when he ran for the Senate. as it is a very strong Democratic Party paper. The paper has this to say about the problem I noted with section 5 of the i965 Voting Rights Act. It says: Federal intervention into local and state level elections was worthwhile. It was in— tended to make certain that voting laws ap- plied to all persons and that all persons had an equal chance to vote. But the Justice De- partment is now going beyond that tene- ment in apparently calling for Just the re~ verse”. in this case, specific districts in which blacks are guaranteed a suit. This type of ddscrinunation is just the reverse of the dis- crimination the 1965 Voting Rights Act was iniendedtoerose. ' " " I would agree. It is the long road we are about to launch down. applying sugh principles as a nationwide stand- ” . ."(e- _n "‘35: ator from Maryland. make several points about my home State. I should like-to—talk tome Senatorsery briefly, about. two matters there. First. I quote from the Charlotte Observer. '- quoting William Bradford Reynolds in turn. who is head of the Civil Rights Division in the Depart- ment of Justice. See what Mr. Reyn- . olds. acting under section 5. which apv i .> < plies to the affected States. required '~ in a letter to the State of North Caro-‘ lina listen to this letter; And thiivit the effects or results test. as it applies Therein lies the nub of the problem. I repeat. ad nauseum. this is not a furor of my imagination. Many. ..re-.. sponsibie scholars have pointed out that this law will guarantee certain election outcomes. and I note again the best exhibit A I had—I do not need speculation by prominent schol- ars: I can point to it—is the situation in the affected States. those 22 States. But I do come here as one of your col- leagues, to remind Senators that I rep- resent one of these affected States; 40 counties in my State of 100 counties I point out to my colleagues that originally the’subcommittee of the J u- diciary "COrnmittee’ that considereth-r» ' this measure did support the intents , test as opposed to an effects or results test. These are very distinguished Members of this body on that commit» tee. However. the Judiciary Commit— tee altered that approach. That is fine. The gentlemen did what they thought was the correct thing to do and brought the bill into keeping with the. House language. . Of course. thlscannot be done. We _gi ., nag-“ ' " , _ _ . ____ are subject to section 5. We have seen . . I... .. _e . ‘ . - ”3» ->~--~-~ - whatwill happen. _ . _ _ have representative democracy. We do - *I‘i'j““"‘”"m' *' We?“ mum-Mord -And_when I goihome and. they say, not have plebiscite democncv in this. i he... _ of theeivilrigbtsdividon. “It. don‘t seem to make sense to me.” country. But I would feel very com-r ~ mu" “M majority db" 311411.11: say is. "I e," And then fortable myself. if we could ever have when they ask. ”Yo mem'tbeyare, ,EIIBWIONB‘ 0n thither“! and get _ . , going to apply that standard natioii-' ' votesThe' America: Noble, WW: ~ '-_- wide under section 279,! will have to as . categorically. overwhelmingly. ,_ * black and white; "We want to guaranrr . '- we everydmerican momma. vote... register to vote. have that counted out . we want’m beireer from humiliating». . and—hamsanLeneroisig! out right. but. yes; we ought not: to so ._bwmd that and gun-antes certain: ' "election resultl'or etf‘actlmL ~ .. .. . . ‘- ~Ws=m3aldng magmatic leap .;. ._ @Wmmnot bathetest but , Hie WWW-present. homage agflnt an intent ‘ ouldrappirb-irrthiebm; and ”Withers " ' ~ that. I. '_ Whitman: to protect the; . . .. . STOEWSMM the united} . mwfimew color. 5"" ~ ‘1- '.lsml .j ‘ . \' Wmum-,5“; flagellum“. voting 101?? W”m . .fi-‘fiffll'éfirfyi ' Swsé past