The View co host opened up about what the Supreme Court’s redistricting decision
Sunny Hostin did not hold back her emotions on Thursday’s episode of The View after the Supreme Court issued a ruling that limits the use of race as a factor in congressional redistricting.
The TV host reflected on a recent Supreme Court decision and its potential impact on voting rights during a discussion on The View, a decision she described as a serious blow to one of the most consequential laws in American history.
The ruling, which served as the first hot topic of the day, took direct aim at a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Hostin called that legislation the most important piece of law ever passed in the United States, a sentiment echoed by her co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who reminded viewers that people lost their lives fighting for those protections.
Goldberg also made clear that she saw the decision as part of a broader pattern, noting that similar rollbacks of voting access such as requirements to use birth certificate names rather than married names at the polls would eventually affect far more Americans than just people of color. She urged the studio audience not to be discouraged and to remember that their voices still matter, drawing a round of applause.
What the majority opinion actually says
Hostin zeroed in on two aspects of the majority opinion, which was written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, the same justice who authored the decision that overturned federal abortion protections. First, the ruling holds that states can no longer use race as a factor in drawing district lines, though they may still use party affiliation. Second, and perhaps more significantly, it narrows the Voting Rights Act’s protections to cover only cases of intentional discrimination.
Hostin explained why that second point is particularly difficult to work with in practice. Discriminatory intent is rarely documented openly, and legislators who craft policies with racially disparate effects are unlikely to put that motivation in writing. Without the ability to point to discriminatory outcomes rather than proven intent, she argued, the law’s protective power has effectively been hollowed out.
She also highlighted a 48 page dissent written by Associate Justice Elena Kagan, which described the Voting Rights Act as legislation born from profound sacrifice one that the majority opinion has now significantly weakened.
The part that hurt most
What troubled Hostin most deeply, however, was a specific argument in Alito’s opinion that sweeping social progress across the country, particularly in the South, reflects a reality in which racism no longer exists in America.
The conversation took a more personal turn as Hostin reflected on her family’s history. She spoke about generational differences in access to civil rights and how those changes have shaped her perspective.
Drawing on those experiences, she shared concern about what the ruling could mean for future generations. Her comments underscored a sense of frustration and disappointment as she considered the broader implications of the decision.
For Hostin, that claim was not just legally questionable. It was personal.
Her father, born in 1949, lived through segregated schools and water fountains and spent much of his life without full civil rights. He told her, when she turned 40, that she was the first person in their family to enjoy those rights fully. He is still alive. She is still alive. And she has experienced discrimination herself.
Now, with this ruling, she finds herself in the painful position of having to explain to her own children that the legal protections available to them are fewer than the ones she had growing up a reality she called disgusting, despicable, and devastating.
The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.