The Klan Never Left. They Just Changed Their Clothes.

The Klan Never Left. They Just Changed Their Clothes.

From Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns by Dr. David J. Johns & Thomas Cunningham IV

May 19, 2026 · 18 min · Season 4 · Episode 16

About this episode

Dr. David J. Johns discusses the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act and the implications for democracy in the U.S.

This one is different. No guest. Just me—and the truth I can't stop sitting with. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is gone. Not weakened. Not under threat. Gone. The legal architecture that turned 7% Black voter registration in Mississippi into 60%—dismantled, decision by decision, by a Supreme Court that was never neutral and was never on our side. But that's not even the whole story. Because while the courts were killing the VRA, the Justice Department was being turned into a weapon. FBI agents raided a Black state senator's office mid-day—Fox News already on the scene—while allies under federal investigation had their evidence destroyed. Ballots from Fulton County are in federal custody. Arizona. Michigan. They are building the architecture of election interference before the midterms. In public. And most people don't even know it's happening This episode is about all of it. The Proud Boys as a militia. The Roberts Court as an antidemocratic enforcement mechanism. The Southern Strategy, sixty years old and running on steroids. And the organizing tradition—Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, Hungary's opposition movement—that proves rigged maps can be beaten and stolen futures can be…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. David J. Johns

Topics covered

  • Voting Rights
  • Election Interference
  • Supreme Court Decisions
  • Civil Rights
  • Political Strategy
  • Historical Context

Keywords

  • Voting Rights Act
  • Supreme Court
  • election interference
  • Proud Boys
  • civil rights
  • Ella Baker
  • Bayard Rustin
  • Southern Strategy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Voting Rights Act of 1965, Supreme Court, FBI, Fox News, Proud Boys

Places: Mississippi, Fulton County, Arizona, Michigan

More episodes of Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Teach the Babies w/ Dr. David J. Johns podcast page.