Republican-led states redraw majority-Black congressional districts across the South

Six states have redrawn districts so that Black communities are no longer linked together in single districts

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled in late April that Louisiana’s congressional map, which had created a second majority-Black district, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The decision in Louisiana v. Callais narrowed how states may consider race when drawing voting districts, as MSI reported at the time, and has since served as the legal blueprint for Republican-led redistricting across the South, allowing states to argue that districts drawn explicitly to link Black communities violate the Constitution.

Louisiana’s new map eliminated one of its two majority-Black districts. The previous 6th District dragged diagonally across the state to connect Black communities, but it was reconfigured so that Shreveport — where Harris voters outnumbered Trump voters three to one — is now merged into the predominantly Republican northwest part of the state, which is less than a third Black. Baton Rouge was split between two districts, with many Black neighborhoods now part of the 2nd District, the state’s remaining majority-Black seat.

Alabama’s 2023 map, which a lower court had struck down as intentionally discriminatory, is back in force after the Supreme Court permitted its use. The map eliminates one of the state’s two majority-Black districts by dividing Mobile and Montgomery. Mobile now shares a district with majority-white areas that gave Trump a four-to-one advantage over Harris, while Montgomery sits in a district that is only 42% Black and includes some of the most heavily Republican precincts in southeastern Alabama.

Tennessee abolished its only majority-Black district. The old 9th District, centered on Memphis, was 62% Black. The new map cracks Memphis into three districts: the 9th now stretches into Nashville suburbs and parts of southern Tennessee, cutting its Black population to under 33%, while the 5th and 8th districts merge Black sections of Memphis with rural, mostly white Republican-leaning areas; both are now under 30% Black.

Texas was the first state to move, responding to former President Donald Trump’s call to redraw districts. The new map shifts five seats toward Republicans and shuffled Black voters in the Houston area. The old 9th District was converted into the new 18th, pitting two Black Democratic incumbents against each other: Rep. Al Green lost to Rep. Christian Menefee in the primary runoff. Many historically Black neighborhoods in the northern suburbs were moved into the 29th District, which is now roughly 25% Black, up from 15%.

Florida’s Republican legislature enacted a map in May designed to net four seats. Governor Ron DeSantis targeted the 20th District, which had the state’s largest Black population at around 53%, calling its claw-like shape an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The redrawn 20th District is more compact and now 45% Black. The majority-Black neighborhoods of Belle Glade, Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach — which went heavily for Harris — were split off into districts with Black population shares of 15% and 26%.

North Carolina’s redistricting took place in 2025. The 1st District, which had the highest Black population in the state at roughly 42%, was merged with solidly Republican counties on the eastern shore, lowering the Black share to about 34%. The predominantly Black areas of Wilson and Goldsboro were moved into the 3rd District, which is now 31% Black.

NPR’s analysis used 2020 census data, previous district boundary maps from the Census Bureau, and new state government boundary maps. Black population figures include those identifying as Black alone or in combination with another race, consistent with Voting Rights Act requirements.