Do not expect the United States Supreme Court to save us. Especially not African Americans.
The federal judiciary has ceased to be a reliable forum where African Americans can even hope for a semblance of just jurisprudence. Over the last decade, the Court has steadily dismantled protections that once shielded us against racial oppression. Today, the judiciary often functions as a political tool for Trump and the MAGA movement.
The Shadow Docket as Trump’s Weapon
The “shadow docket” refers to the Court’s use of emergency or procedural rulings issued without full briefing, oral argument, or signed opinions. Once used sparingly, Trump has turned it into a weapon. Through this docket, the Court has repeatedly given him favorable rulings with minimal explanation.
For African Americans, this means rulings that reshape voting rights, civil rights enforcement, and immigration policy often come down through unsigned orders in the middle of the night.
Why This Matters
If the Court rules against birthright citizenship and Section 2, it will no longer be hiding its allegiance. It will have openly aligned itself with Trump’s agenda to preserve white dominance. That will be the final signal: the Supreme Court is not a safeguard, but an enforcer of authoritarianism.
For African Americans, this means you cannot rely on the courts to protect democracy or civil rights. Our history already taught us this during slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. The Court is simply repeating its pattern.
Two Major Cases Ahead
Two monumental cases are now on the Court’s regular docket. Unlike the shadow docket, these cases will receive full arguments. But the outcomes are predictable.
Birthright Citizenship. The Court will decide whether children born in the United States to non-citizen parents remain citizens under the 14th Amendment. If overturned, millions of people especially Latinos and African Americans with immigrant ancestry will face an existential threat to their citizenship rights.
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 prohibits voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race, especially racial gerrymandering. The Court had already gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and further weakened it in Brnovich v. DNC (2021). If Trump wins here, Black voting rights will lose their last federal protection. Section 2 bans voting practices that discriminate on the basis of race. The Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) and weakened it again in Brnovich v. DNC (2021). If Trump prevails in the upcoming case, Black voting rights will lose their last line of federal defense.
Undermining Section 2 has been Justice Clarence Thomas’s objective for over 30 years. In the Court’s most recent Section 2 decision, he scolded his conservative colleagues for not going far enough to dismantle it.
What Comes Next
The lesson is simple. The Court is not coming to our rescue. That burden falls on us—through organizing, mobilizing, voting, boycotts, and collective action.
Buckle up. The storm is here.
