When the all-white Republican supermajority in the Tennessee Legislature carved up Memphis into three congressional districts during the first week of May, they insisted that race had nothing to do with it. But when it comes to Memphis, race always matters. This week, we listen to the voices raised in protest during Tennessee’s rapid-fire special session, and put them in the context of the long and often ugly history of the state’s treatment of its largest Black-majority city. From violence by white mobs after the Civil War to the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. to the ongoing occupation of city streets by National Guard troops, Memphis has always been on the front lines of attempts to build Black political power — and to knock it down.
Show Notes:
“Tennessee redistricting debate marked by fiery oratory about Black struggles for voting rights” Tennessee Lookout
“Tennessee lawmakers vote to replace failed Achievement School District turnaround program” Chalkbeat Tennessee
“Tennessee House passes Shelby County district attorney removal bill” Tennessee Lookout
“Students on Tennessee vouchers are underperforming, state audit finds” WPLN
“How a large-scale effort to register black voters led to a crackdown in Tennessee” The Washington Post
The Equity Alliance
People’s Grocery lynchings Wikipedia