18 LOUISIANA v. CALLAIS Opinion of the Court identified instances of past discrimination that violated the Constitution or a statute.” SFFA, 600 U. S., at 207. To “rise to the level of a compelling state interest,” an effort to remediate past discrimination “must satisfy two conditions.” Shaw II, 517 U. S., at 909. “First, the discrimination must be ‘identified discrimination.’ ” Ibid. (quoting Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co., 488 U. S. 469, 499, 500, 505, 507, 509 (1989)). In other words, the State or Federal Government must identify the specific instances of past discrimination that it aims to remediate and, in light of that specification, must “ ‘determine the precise scope of the injury it seeks to remedy.’ ” 517 U. S., at 909 (quoting Croson, 488 U. S., at 498 (opinion for the Court)). The States and Federal Government have no compelling interest in generally remediating “past discrimination in a particular industry or region” or “the effects of societal discrimination.” 517 U. S., at 909–910. Second, after identifying the specific instance of discrimination, “the institution that makes the racial distinction must have . . . a ‘strong basis in evidence’ to conclude that [its] remedial action [is] necessary.” Id., at 910 (quoting Wygant v. Jackson Bd. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267, 277 (1986)). “Our acceptance of race-based state action has been rare for a reason.” SFFA, 600 U. S., at 208. “ ‘Distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.’ ” Ibid. (quoting Rice v. Cayetano, 528 U. S. 495, 517 (2000)). And in redistricting, “where the State assumes from a group of voters’ race that they ‘think alike, share the same political interests, and will prefer the same candidates at the polls,’ it engages in racial stereotyping at odds with equal protection mandates.” Miller, 515 U. S., at 920 (quoting Shaw I, 509 U. S. 630, 647 (1993)). The question before us now is whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act should be added to our very short list