Voting Rights Act: Fault Lines of the American Experiment and the Politics of Redemption

Voting Rights Act: Fault Lines of the American Experiment and the Politics of Redemption
July 12 & 19 2026 | 9:30 a.m.
Room 9T & Online

The 1965 Voting Rights Act has long stood as a landmark achievement in the struggle against racial discrimination in American democracy. Yet recent Supreme Court decisions, including Louisiana v. Callais, have prompted renewed debate about the future of voting rights and the meaning of race-conscious protections under the law.

As churches grapple with their historical responses to Black disenfranchisement—from silence to complicity—what role can faith communities play in addressing ongoing questions of racial justice and democratic participation?

This two-week summer series engages womanist theologian M. Shawn Copeland’s latest book, Politics of Redemption(Marquette University Press, 2025), to explore the dismantling of voting rights protections through a theological lens. Where freedom remains fragile, Copeland points to love as a political practice and redemption as a pathway toward justice, dignity, and collective flourishing.