Wealthy Suburb In Louisiana Secedes From Heavily Black City

Louisiana's conservative Supreme Court ruled on Friday that St. George, a wealthy and heavily white suburb southeast of Baton Rouge, could incorporate as a new city.

Residents of St. George had voted for incorporation by a 54-46 margin in a 2019 referendum, but lower courts had blocked it from going forward because of its potentially adverse effects on the finances of both Baton Rouge and St. George. By a 4-3 margin, however, the Supreme Court reversed those previous decisions and allowed incorporation to proceed.

The state capital of Baton Rouge, which consolidated its government with East Baton Rouge Parish following a 1947 referendum, oversees nearly all of the parish aside from a few small towns. According to data from the Census Bureau and VEST presented by Dave's Redistricting App, residents in the consolidated government's jurisdiction are 56% Black, 33% white, and heavily Democratic. By contrast, St. George's 81,000 residents are 67% white and just 18% Black, and the new municipality would be solidly Republican.

Critics decry the move as inherently discriminatory, alleging that it will perpetuate racial and socioeconomic divisions by segregating a predominantly white, affluent enclave from the broader, predominantly black city and school district. Voices of dissent warn of economic repercussions for Baton Rouge, with projections indicating a potential $53 million budget deficit and a halving of the unemployment rate in the new city.