Sixty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, Thelton Henderson, a retired federal judge and visiting professor at UC Berkeley Law, warns that efforts to restrict voting rights for people of color and economically disadvantaged individuals continue in new forms. Henderson, who witnessed the segregated South as an attorney with the Department of Justice in the 1960s, expressed concern about current trends during an interview with UC Berkeley News.
“Getting rid of the Voting Rights Act, dismantling it little by little — we’ll go back to the days preferred by those who don’t want the descendants of slaves to have any voting rights or any power in this country,” Henderson said. “That’s what I see happening.”
Henderson described how modern vote suppression is often less visible than past tactics but still effective. He cited voter ID laws, purging of voter rolls, restrictions on mail-in voting, and gerrymandering as examples. According to Henderson, both Republican-led states like Texas and Democratic-led states such as California have engaged in redistricting practices that can limit minority voting power.
Reflecting on his career and experiences during pivotal moments in civil rights history—including knowing Martin Luther King Jr., working on lawsuits to secure Black voting rights in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama—Henderson emphasized that legal victories were hard-won but not always sufficient without robust enforcement.
“There’s been this tug-of-war within the history of this country. I’ve always felt that at the end of the Reconstruction period… they didn’t really solve the problem. So it’s still lingering,” he said.
He also discussed how gerrymandering can dilute Black political influence: “A third of Louisiana’s population is Black. There are all kinds of ways to restrict their voting influence… You could put all the Black people in two districts… Or you could spread them out in all 10 districts so that they don’t have real controlling power in any of them.”
Henderson warned against diminishing protections provided by law: “If we diminish the Voting Rights Act, you’re going to have less of a vote, less of a voice, by racial minorities and by people less fortunate financially.” He argued that true democracy requires equal participation: “If we are truly a democratic country… it ought to mean one person, one vote.”
He recounted memories from his time with the Civil Rights Division when violence was used alongside legal means—such as poll taxes and literacy tests—to prevent Black citizens from voting. He recalled seeing children ready for arrest during protests organized by King because adults had been intimidated out of participating.
Henderson noted changes at higher levels: “It’s stunning to see it coming from the top, from the Supreme Court. To me, it’s foolish to say there’s no need [for restrictions]… They are not obsolete.”
Despite progress over recent decades—including major court decisions on issues like environmental protection and same-sex marriage—he believes forces seeking to roll back these gains now have more leverage: “We’ve made remarkable progress in recent years but I think we’re at a point now where the other side has more leverage… They’re pushing us back — and they’re winning this war right now.”
While acknowledging concerns about election fraud prevention measures being used as pretexts for restricting access for certain groups rather than addressing actual risks—“These acts go way beyond protecting against fraud because they only limit a certain group”—he called for continued vigilance.
“I do get discouraged… But okay, we’ve got to roll up our sleeves,” Henderson concluded. “I’m getting older but I’ve got to go fight some more… We need everybody who’s offended by this to pick up their tools and join the battle again and keep working to push us forward.”
