such districting was a temporary measure to give blacks what ucla law professor daniel lowenstein calls a jump start in po politi. a jump start is one thing, but the guy who comes and charges up your car when the battery is dead, he doesn't stay there trailing behind you, with a cable stuck as you drive down the freeway. he let's it go. it's time to let race-driven districting go the way of those jumper cables. america is better off with increasing the number of black officials who gained office in large part due to the deliberate drawing of majority-minority constituencies, but black politics has come of age and black politicians can protect their turf, fight for their interests, and successfully compete even for the presidency. today, most southern states have higher registration rates than those outside the region and over 900 blacks hold office, public office in mississippi alone. covered and non-covered states in the south are almost indistinguishable by the measure of african-americans elected to state legislatures. massive disenfranchisement is ancient history, as unlikely to ret