“States' rights! The federal government is too powerful!”

What You Say

'States' rights' was the legal argument for slavery, Jim Crow, and school segregation — states used local control to deny equal protection until federal civil rights law overrode them. The Supremacy Clause exists because leaving voting, marriage, and discrimination entirely to states produced apartheid. Today, the same phrase appears in arguments against Medicaid expansion, abortion access, and voting protections. Local control isn't neutral when local power targets minorities.