For most of my long life, I had faith that America was moving gradually towards greater justice, equality and inclusion. As a white male American, I benefited from advantages denied to many others but naively believed that my nation, however imperfectly, and often painfully, was forever trying to widen rather than to restrict democracy.

The Supreme Court’s dismantling of the Voting Rights Act has badly shaken my faith. The bitter irony is unmistakable: the southern and southwestern states that will gain congressional seats after the next census owe most of their population growth to the black, Hispanic and immigrant communities whose political power they are now trying to dilute and suppress. In short, these communities will be counted for congressional representation while increasingly denied meaningful representation.

This recalls the painful logic of the Jim Crow era, when the presence of people of color strengthened states politically while they were excluded from political power. With more than two years remaining in the Trump era, I wonder if the millions who supported him will awaken to the real possibility that the whole American experiment is at serious risk. I fear we are moving backward, not forward, and am sick at heart. My only hope is that huge majorities share these fears and will express them where it matters most—at the ballot box.

Edward Kornbluh, DDS
Schodack Landing, NY