Tennessee Reveals New Map Eliminating Majority-Black District
Tennessee Reveals New Map Eliminating Majority-Black District
The GOP has wasted no time in capitalizing on the Supreme Court’s ruling to gut the Voting Rights Act to disenfranchise Black voters. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called a special session on Tuesday to focus on redistricting, and on Wednesday, the state legislature revealed a map that eliminates the state’s only majority-Black district.
According to the New York Times, the new map will likely give Republicans the opportunity to flip Tennessee’s lone Democratic House seat. Republicans hold a supermajority in the Grand Assembly, so the map will likely pass despite Democratic opposition. The map could upend the primary race between incumbent Rep. Steve Cohen and state Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis).
“This is insane. The GOP’s newly proposed TN Congressional maps would have people in Shelby County all the way to Williamson County—200+ miles apart—being ‘represented’ by the same Congressman,” Cohen said in a social media post.
The Grand Assembly approved a rules package before the special session that prevents anyone removed from the gallery for “disorderly conduct” from returning throughout the duration of the special session. As we know, Tennessee Republicans love removing anyone from the House floor who dares to call them out on their abhorrent politics. They also struck down proposals to allow the public to give feedback in the redistricting process, because why should public servants care about what the public has to say?
“History will not look back kindly on you when you had an opportunity to do what was right, and you chose to do something else,” state Senator Raumesh Akbari, a Memphis Democrat, said during the special session on Tuesday. She added that the new maps were “an act of hate.”
State House Speaker Cameron Sexton released a statement justifying the redistricting effort with the “I don’t see color” defense.
“The Supreme Court has opined that redistricting, like the judicial system, should be colorblind — the decision indicated states like Tennessee can redistrict based on partisan politics,” Sexton’s statement read. “Tennessee’s redistricting will reduce the risk of future legal challenges while promoting sound and strategic conservatism.”
While it’s abundantly clear that Tennessee Republicans are going to push through this travesty of a map, that hasn’t stopped the people of Memphis from taking to the streets to protest. WPLN News reports that Pearson joined hundreds of protesters marching to the Tennessee Capitol on Tuesday. Chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame!” could be heard as the state legislators entered the Capitol for the special session on Tuesday.
If only the Republican Party could remember what shame felt like.
Pearson told WPLN News that these new maps could undo decades of progress for Black voters in Tennessee. “Mid-decade redistricting is new, but attempts to take away the voting rights of Black people is not new,” Pearson said. During the rally outside the Capitol, he plainly denounced the new maps as “racist redistricting.”
Martin Luther King III sent a letter to the Memphis state legislature expressing his “grave concern” about the new maps. “This decision undermines the work that my father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., carried out to help secure passage of the Voting Rights Act,” King III wrote.
While the new maps are expected to be signed into law, they will undoubtedly face legal challenges in the near future.
SEE ALSO:
Justin Pearson Fights For Environmental Justice And Community In Memphis
Supreme Court Justices Alito And Jackson Debate Voting Rights Decision
Tennessee Reveals New Map Eliminating Majority-Black District was originally published on newsone.com
