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The struggle over Louisiana v. Callais is ultimately a struggle for the soul of the democratic process. It asks whether we believe in a system that seeks to include as many voices as possible, or a system that seeks to manage and minimize “difficult” populations for the sake of political stability. As the Supreme Court deliberates, the maps remain in flux, waiting to be finalized into a configuration that will dictate the power dynamics of the next decade. If the decision favors the thinning of representation, the result will be a landscape where millions of Americans remain on the map, but are effectively removed from the story of their own country. The silence of the courtroom belies the gravity of the stakes: once a community is sliced out of the narrative, it takes generations of struggle to stitch it back in.
