The conservative-majority Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights Act this week, but “The Daily Show” host Josh Johnson found a bright side to the move on Thursday night. According to the Comedy Central host, this is actually “pretty great” for Hollywood.
In a 6-3 ruling this week, SCOTUS decided that Louisiana’s current congressional map, which has two majority African-American districts, is unconstitutional. The justices argued that lawmakers allowed race to play a part in drawing the maps. Now, as a result of that ruling, Democrats worry that other majority-Black districts are vulnerable to being erased.
“Now, thanks to the Supreme Court, Black districts are going to get a race all across the south, which is horrible for civil rights, but pretty great for all the new civil rights movies we’re going to be making,” Johnson joked. “So this is fantastic from like a Denzel-only perspective.”
Johnson also marveled at the fact that the VRA was enacted decades ago, and is being targeted in modern times.
“It almost feels like we’re going in reverse, because the people from the 60s, in black-and-white TV, were like, ‘Wow, this country is being pretty racist. We should pass some legislation.’ And the people crippling that legislation are from now in 4k,” he said. “Just so we’re all aware, newscasters who would do reports like, ‘That Jackie Robinson is the best colored player in the Negro League!’ believed in voting rights more than our representatives!”
The host then poked holes in the logic of conservatives arguing that discrimination doesn’t actually exist in America anymore, rendering the Voting Rights Act obsolete.
“Now, what these people don’t get is that, to the extent that there’s less discrimination now, it’s partly because we had the VRA,” Johnson explained. “So this is like my uncle who threw away his medication because he said his heart wasn’t bothering him anymore. And to be fair, he did stop having heart problems — because he’s dead.”
You can watch the full news segment from “The Daily Show” in the video above.
The post ‘The Daily Show’ Jokes SCOTUS Blow to Voting Rights Act Is ‘Great’ for Future Civil Rights Movies: ‘Fantastic From Like a Denzel-Only Perspective’ appeared first on TheWrap.
