‘The View’s Sunny Hostin Disheartened By Justice Samuel Alito Claiming “Racism No Longer Exists In This Country”: “Now I Have to Tell My Children That They Have Less Civil Rights Than I Did When I Was Born”

Sunny Hostin shared an emotional response on The View to the Supreme Court’s ruling to limit the use of race in determining redistricting, what she described as “a huge setback” to a key provision of 1965’s Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court’s decision was the first Hot Topic to be tackled on The View on Thursday. Whoopi Goldberg said “we knew this was coming,” noting that “it’s going to start happening to women, as well” in the midst of other changes to U.S. voting practices.

“Because all these changes in voting, where they’re saying you can’t use your married name. You gotta go get your birth certificate. So this is going to affect a lot of people,” she added. “Right now it sounds like it’s just affecting people of color. We know better. We knew this was coming. So This is meant to discourage you from voting. This is meant to make you feel like you don’t have a voice. You do have a voice. Do not forget that,” she told the studio audience, receiving a round of applause.

Hostin agreed that “it’s a huge setback,” noting that “the 1965 Voting Rights Act was the most important piece of legislation in United States history.”

Goldberg chimed in, “People died for that.”

Hostin highlighted Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan’s 48-page dissent, in which Kagan wrote that “it’s the most important piece because it was born of the literal blood of Union soldiers and civil rights marchers.” She added that the provision “has been gutted,” explaining that “the majority opinion was written” by Samuel Alito, “the same judge that wrote the decision that took away a lot of women’s rights.”

The “two key points” that Hostin pointed out in Alito’s majority opinion were that “states can no longer use race as a factor in redistricting, but states can use party politics,” and that “the Voting Rights Act only protects against intentional discrimination.”

“The problem with that is, I don’t know about you, but there aren’t that many racists that say, ‘Hi, I’m a racist.’ There aren’t many legislators that write in legislation, ‘We are going to discriminate against Black people,’” she added. “So it’s almost impossible to prove intentional discrimination, and that is why in my view, this is gutted.”

However, what Hostin found to be “most troubling” was that “Alito argued that the vast social change has occurred throughout the country, and particularly in the South, indicating that racism no longer exists in this country.”

“I can tell you, as a Black woman, that my father was born in 1949,” she shared. “He remembers segregated schools. He remembers segregated water fountains. He remembers that he did not have full civil rights, and he told me when I turned 40 years old, that I was the first person in his family to enjoy full civil rights. And he is still alive today, and I am still alive today, and I have been discriminated against. And now I have to tell my children that they have less civil rights than I did when I was born. That is disgusting, despicable, and I am devastated by this particular Supreme Court decision, even though Whoopi, we did know this was coming.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10 c on ABC.