The Voting Rights Act (VRA) is one of the most important—if not
the most important—public policies developed
over the last half century to increase access to the U.S. political
system for people of color. The VRA also provides an important
context for understanding the ascension of nonwhite groups into the
elected leadership of the nation (Browning, Marshall, and Tabb 1984; Davidson and Grofman 1994; Menifield 2001; McClain and Stewart 2002; Segura and Bowler 2005;
Bositis 2006). This essay assesses the
present-day significance of the VRA for the political representation
of communities of color by examining the implications of
majority-minority districts and other key provisions in the VRA for
the election of nonwhite officials in the beginning years of the
twenty-first century.