Racism as a political factor has largely disappeared

Indeed, for all the controversy over voter-ID requirements and other election-law reforms, black participation in the electoral process is more robust than ever. Accusations that such laws are motivated by a desire to suppress minority voting may be cynical or sincere, but if the proof of the pudding is in the turnout, the black franchise is perfectly sound.

“Voting rates for blacks were higher in 2012 than in any recent presidential election, the result of a steady increase in black voting rates since 1996,” reported the US Census Bureau in 2013. What’s more, with 66.2 percent of black voters casting ballots, turnout among blacks was the highest of any racial group, surpassing the voting rate among whites by 2.1 percentage points. If this is voter suppression, let’s have more of it.

Black turnout has been rising everywhere, even in states dominated by Republicans. Jason Riley, author of the new book “Please Stop Helping Us,” observes that the trend “was most pronounced in red states like Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi,” and that black voter turnout in 2012 surpassed white turnout by statistically significant margins . . . [even] in states with the strictest voter-ID laws.” When skeptical researchers at PolitiFact dug into Riley’s claim, they rated it True.