August 22, 2021
I am not a lawyer, nor did I attend law school. The closest I ever got was when I crashed a law school mixer as a college freshman. However, I did study Latin for five years, which helps in doing crossword puzzles and understanding what a quid pro quo is. Which brings me to de facto segregation. De facto means in reality. De facto segregation is racial, ethnic, or other segregation without institutionalized legislation intended to segregate. In other words, de facto segregation just happens with no fingerprints left behind. It’s not premeditated, but it is passively mediated.
We are now seeing de facto segregation of voters resulting from the gerrymandering of Congressional districts. The Supreme Court says that it is okay as long as the fingerprints of segregationists are not readily discernible. If gerrymandering does not take into account race when district boundaries are drawn, then, ipso facto, it is not racial segregation even though the ultimate result is de facto racial segregation. You need George Wallace standing in the schoolhouse door to prove malicious intent. The 2020 census promises to make things worse. Harvard-educated Eldridge Gerry of Massachusetts would be envious. Mirabile dictu!
The Spin Doctor 