Many majority-minority districts were drawn after Congress amended the Voting Rights Act in 1982 to bar rules with discriminatory results, not just discriminatory intent. In Thornburg v. Gingles (1986), the Supreme Court set out when Section 2 requires such a district. These districts helped send many Black and Latino lawmakers to Congress and state legislatures, especially in the South.
They have also drawn legal challenges. In Shaw v. Reno (1993), the Court allowed white voters to challenge districts drawn mainly by race. In Allen v. Milligan (2023), the Court upheld an order requiring Alabama to draw a second district where Black voters could elect their candidate. But in Louisiana v. Callais (2026), the Court ruled 6-3 that Louisiana's second majority-Black district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and sharply narrowed Section 2.
The term is also used for whole places. The Census Bureau's 2018 projections said the US would become majority-minority around 2045.