Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Chris Shenton on the gutting of the Voting Rights Act

Podcasts Archives • NC Newsline · May 11, 2026 · 30m

Southern Coalition for Social Justice Senior Counsel Chris Shenton (Courtesy photo)

One of the greatest achievements of the American Civil Rights movement was the enactment more than 60 years ago of a law known as the Voting Rights Act. Though it had several provisions, the basic objective of the law was simple – it was to eliminate centuries of deep-seated racial discrimination that had infected and polluted U.S. elections by assuring that all the nation’s citizens had an opportunity to be full participants in our democracy.

Unfortunately, despite the progress the law has helped usher in and…