In a year of historic celebrations, a single U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act – Shelby County v. Holder — puts in perspective what much of that history is about. The sharp contrasts between the decision's majority and dissenting opinions are a reminder that, as a nation, we are not done yet. That a central struggle of our nation's past – the struggle to find the right balance between what it means to be a part of an individual state as opposed to a single nation – is still the struggle of today and likely will remain the struggle of tomorrow as well.
So far, the year 2013 has featured a number of milestones in the life of this nation, the 150th and 50th anniversaries of important dates during the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement respectively. The year began with the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, a celebration of President Abraham Lincoln's issuance of an executive order declaring on January 1, 1863 that "all persons held as slaves . . . shall be then, thenceforward and forever free."
