Lawsuit calls state’s way of choosing governors racist

In 1890, as white politicians across the South cracked down on the black population with Jim Crow laws, Mississippi inserted into its constitution an unusually high bar for getting elected governor or winning any other statewide office.

The provision, which remains in force to this day, says candidates must win not only a majority of the popular vote — that is, more than 50 percent — but also a majority of the state’s 122 House districts.

On Thursday, more than a century later, four black Mississippians sued in federal court to put an end to what they say is a racially discriminatory system, unique in the U.S. and aimed at thwarting the election of African Americans.