Tennessee Republicans Pass Map Eliminating State’s Only Majority Black District

So when the modern Republicans were talking about making America great again, we can now safely assume they were talking about the Jim Crow era. In the wake of the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act, Tennessee’s Republican-led state legislature has passed a new congressional map that completely eliminates the state’s lone majority-Black district. 

According to NBC News, Tennessee rushed through its redistricting process this week after the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that basically allows for racial gerrymanders. The special session focusing on redistricting was ordered by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Monday, with the new map revealed on Tuesday. The map splits the Shelby County district, which includes the predominantly Black city of Memphis, into three other districts. The new map will give Republicans complete control of Tennessee’s House seats. 

Democratic state legislators and protesters throughout Memphis were quick to call this redistricting effort what it was: a racist power grab. “This is not a special session. This is a white power rally and a white power grab,” said Democratic state Rep. Gloria Johnson, who represents Knoxville. “Vote yes — you’re telling everyone you’re racist.”

State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) also called the move by state Republicans a “racist redistricting” effort during a rally earlier this week. 

From NBC News:

As in the House, the map passed the Senate amid shouting from protestors and Democratic lawmakers. One senator stood on a desk with what appeared to be a bedsheet emblazoned with “No Jim Crow 2.0” and “Stop the TN Steal.” Other members turned their back on the Senate dais.

Tennessee becomes the ninth state to vote to approve a new congressional map ahead of the midterms, an unusually active mid-decade redistricting cycle that first stated last year when President Donald Trump urged Republican-led state to redraw their lines to shore up the party’s narrow House majority.

Republicans could pick up as many as 14 seats as a result of the campaign, compared to 10 for Democrats, though several are still facing litigation.

“Tennessee is a conservative state,” state Sen. John Stevens, a Republican who sponsored the bill, said in defense of the map. “Its congressional delegation should reflect that.”

I mean, is it? Or have the maps been drawn in such a way to mitigate Democrats from ever gaining a foothold in the state? State Democrats questioned Stevens’ claim that Republicans used Census data to build the new maps, as the Census doesn’t include partisan data. 

State Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) invoked history as she pleaded with her colleagues to vote against the map. “When you had an opportunity to do right, did you beat people back on Edmund Pettus Bridge?” Akbari said on the floor. “When you had an opportunity to do right, did you vote to make sure that those Black folks in Memphis who believe in this state, who pay their taxes, who work just like everyone else, have a right to be politically represented as well by folks who share their interest and who advocate for them on a federal level?”

You’d think that such an emotional, thoughtful call to action would be met with at least some level of respect and decorum, right? Nah. 

Videos have gone viral showing various Republican state legislators laughing at people protesting against Black folks being disenfranchised. It’s crazy how these people love to tout their “Christian values” and literally do nothing the Bible says to do. It’s days like this I truly hope there is a Christian God, because I can’t imagine any better punchline than for these folks to learn that everything they did in life only earned them a special place in Hell. 

SEE ALSO:

Tennessee Reveals New Map Eliminating Majority-Black District

Justin Pearson Fights For Environmental Justice And Community In Memphis