. >> in her new book abigail thernstron says the 1965 voting acts right was official but in its current form is harmful to minorities. she said by creating majority black congressional districts in southern states, the candidates elected have limited appeal for the general electorate. from the american enterprise institute here in washington, she's joined by richard pildes of new york university law and michael carvin. this is about two hours. >> thank you very much for joining us at today's event. i'm henry olson. i'm vice president at the american enterprise institute and director of its national research initiative. the nri is an entity with aei that financially supports original research and writing on questions of domestic public policy. and is the proud sponsor of the book that's the subject of today's event. voting rights and wrongs, the elusive quest for racially fair elections available for purchase at www.aei.org, i might add. the five most important words in american political history are all men are created equal. ultimately, virtually every political question is how to appl