and thanks as well to michael carvin and rick pildes. these are two incredibly eminent men who have busy schedules and for whom i have the deepest intellectual admiration and they made time to come here so i feel very indebted. well, what a terrific time to be talking about minority voting rights. not only do we have an enormously important supreme court decision on the constitutionality of the most radical provision in the 1965 voting rights act sure to be announced by the end of this month. but more importantly, the election of barack obama marked the close of an era. and the welcomed beginning of a new one. what everyone thinks of his politics, his stunning success with 43% of the white vote and record high turnout by minority voters is a historic turning point. integration was the aim of the civil rights movement in the 1950s, much of the 1960s and by the ultimate test, american politics is now integrated. blacks have been a major political force for decades. and now an african-american man has reached the highest peak. when the 1965