Downturn for Black Americans has followed `Shelby’ ruling, study finds
“Research from two UC San Diego Rady School of Management studies released Tuesday says that while the 1965 Voting Rights Act contributed to economic improvements for Black Americans, a 2013 Supreme Court ruling striking down a key provision in the act has led to economic disenfranchisement for that same group.
The first study — a working paper — found that counties where voting rights were more strongly protected experienced larger reductions in the Black-white wage gap between 1950 and 1980.
The second paper, published recently in the journal American Economic Association Papers and Proceedings, presented evidence that counties previously covered by the act started seeing a decrease in public sector wages for Black workers relative to wages for white workers, especially for new hires, as early as five years after the 2013 Supreme Court decision in Shelby County (Alabama) v. Holder.”