By Jordan Liz
On May 8, the Republican-controlled legislature of Tennessee passed new redistricting maps that divide Memphis’s 63 percent Black population across three white-majority districts. This eliminates the state’s sole Black-majority district.
Republicans in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Georgia are similarly pushing redistricting maps that would decimate their majority-Black districts.
These moves come on the heels of the Supreme Court’s controversial decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which effectively killed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This was the latest in a decades-long effort by the Supreme Court to dismantle the law, reversing a signature accomplishment of the Civil Rights Movement.
This systematic assault against the voting power of Black people is a deliberate attempt to deny them political representation and silence their voices.
Tennessee was admitted to the Union in 1796 but didn’t elect its first Black congressperson, Representative Harold Ford Sr. from Memphis, until 1974 — nearly 10 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act. That Memphis-based district is the very one now being dismantled.
Without the Voting Rights Act and the racial gerrymandering it was designed to oppose, Ford may not have been elected.
Not because Black people only vote for candidates of color. It’s because people, regardless of race, vote for those they believe understand their problems and work to solve them. While we vote as individuals, the social, political, and economic challenges we face are deeply interwoven with the communities in which we live.
Black people are twice as likely as whites to face food insecurity and more likely to live in “food deserts.” This reality is inextricably tied to the continuing influence of slavery and Jim Crow.
This includes: “redlining,” whereby mortgages and insurance were denied to people in minority-majority neighborhoods; “racial covenants” that prohibited people of color from renting, buying, or occupying specific property; and segregation, which concentrated poverty and restricted social mobility.
These policies functioned for decades to keep Black communities underserved, underinvested, and underdeveloped. They are the foundation of the racial wealth gap that persists today. According to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, in 2022 the median white household held $284,310 — more than six times the $44,100 held by the median Black household.
The racial wealth gap limits access to education, healthcare, and opportunities as well as food. Larger grocery stores are less willing to open stores in poor areas because they consider them less profitable. This is known as “supermarket redlining”and disproportionately impacts communities of color.
The fact of the matter is that, despite progress on these issues, people of color continue to be impacted by racism, colorism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia in ways that white people are not. Politicians pretending these problems no longer exist will only serve to widen racial inequalities.
Yet this is precisely what will occur if Republicans succeed in splitting the Black vote across multiple white-majority districts.
Right now, the Democrats are largely focused on counter-gerrymandering the Republicans in other states. This may help them win seats, but it won’t help the Black communities across the South that are being disenfranchised.
These political games must end. President John Adams once wrote that the House of Representatives “should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large. It should think, feel, reason, and act like them.”
Gerrymandering, however, inverts this equation. Instead of the House reflecting the people, it reflects the will of the politicians who carve up districts to gain political power. It is a government designed by the politicians for the politicians.
We must put an end to racist and partisan gerrymandering. We must restore the Voting Rights Act. And ultimately, we must ensure that Black communities have the political representation they’ve earned via their blood, sweat, and tears.
Anything less is a betrayal of their struggle as well as the ideals of America’s Founders.
Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration, and the politics of belonging.
Me says
Going backwards, that is not progress. It is discrimination all over again. We should be better than this by now.
mi says
it’s the complete opposite of discrimination.
the supreme Court already said voting by race is illegal
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
Interesting how conservatives have problems with black people voting but are totally onboard with raping 12 year olds.
Mr. Bill says
By far the stupidest, most hate filled, and wholly ignorant remark I have ever read on Flagler Live.
Congratulations!
Deborah Coffey says
The truth hurts you?
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
I mean, the morality of the situation here is pretty clear cut and pointing out the obvious here isn’t stupid, hate-filled, or ignorant. You’ve made your choice and frankly you’re going to be judged by others for it. If you’re feeling attacked because people like myself are pointing out the obvious then you might want to channel a little self-awareness and insight and perhaps consider why the truth hurts, and maybe consider making some changes.
Keenan Hreib says
Thank you Samuel. All the Right has left is to cheat, cheat and cheat some more. Run ads relentlessly supporting a “Uncle Tom” like Byron Donalds to unsuccessfully camouflage their blatant racism.
Donald Trump sees Byron Donalds as nothing more than a “House Negro” for the identity politics to glass over the “NO POLICY AMERICA LAST” Ponzi scheme that is this administration.
mi says
gop encourage black votes.
it’s liberals who use and abuse them.. won’t let him off the plantation.
Laurel says
How’s the atmosphere on Uranus?
DaleL says
The Tennessee legislature acted to “…divide Memphis’s 63 percent Black population across three white-majority districts.” Another way to think about this is that the previous Memphis African American majority district disenfranchised the 37 percent who were not African American.
The concept that there should be “black” districts or “white” districts seems to me to be inherently racist.
The voters in American cities are more liberal than rural and suburban voters. This redistricting is intended to dilute liberal (Democratic Party) voters and to elect more Republicans.
Ed P says
What ever gerrymandering does or does not do, the City of Memphis is no longer a vibrant bustling metro. It’s reminiscent of the urban blight Detroit Michigan lived through. The sheer number of vacant store fronts indicates it’s facing significant urban challenges.
High crime rates and violent crime is an issue.
Jim says
A little dramatic no ?
GetOverIt says
What a bunch of whiny, pathetic people.
Deborah Coffey says
The pathetic people are the racists and their insatiable lust for power.
Joey G says
Oh it’s OK for the Dems to do it? They started this.
Short and simple ( who wrote this BS piece)
Like having to show id for everything ( EVERYTHING) except for voting.
Deborah Coffey says
Please get an education.
It’s all racist says
How come the Democrats never think it’s unfair, oppressive or racist when gerrymandering of Republican districts are redrawn in their favor ?
Think about that.
Deborah Coffey says
You think about it because Democrats don’t do that.
Al says
The stores in the food desert left because of theft and violence towards their customers and employees. These neighborhoods created their own situation. Most black politicians are just race hustlers, they promise everything and produce nothing of value. No cash bail so the same person who robbed the store or car can come back tomorrow and do it again. Welfare and other incentives to promote staying in the plantation rather then getting out and being someone. Lots of younger minorities have joined the republicans because they see they have a future, not drugs or theft but a real future. The black community needs to stop believing the democrats and see that they have a future that is not tied to the past. What happened 200 years ago should not affect the next 100 years.
The dude says
The very definition of “history always repeats” here.
This happens because folks like Al refuse to study real history, or learn anything from it when presented with the facts.
Laurel says
Al: So, is this what your black friends tell you?
The Geode says
I am BLACK, and I agree with “Al”. Stop thinking we are all a monolith. We are “individuals” (just like you).
PaulT says
White Republicans seem very smug about ‘their’ SCOTUS.
Because the Jim Crow 2.o decision has restored their seats at the front of the bus?
What are they hoping for next? The return of poll taxes or revival of segregated lunch counters (or the fast food outlets that have replaced them)?
The dude says
Don’t forget the water fountains…
Ed P says
Hello Paul,
SCOTUS is constitutionally designed to be an independent body, insulated from direct political pressure and partisan influence.
Life tenure prevents them from being punished for unpopular rulings.
The most current demands of packing the court by adding 4 more justices, or limiting their terms to 18 years is being pursued by the left because they don’t agree with most of the recent decisions.
SCOTUS rules against Trump and the republicans as well. Did you complain or cheer, when the legality of tariffs was struck down and refunds were mandated? An independent Supreme Court is vital.
We have too many activist federal judges. Keeping SCOTUS independent is the last line of defense.
A pure constitutionalist who is ruling on the intent of law would most likely appear conservative. Opinions should not change intent.
Destroying SCOTUS because one doesn’t agree with their decisions is reckless…just like your hyperbolic Jim Crow 2.0 and front of bus nonsense.
mi says
absolutely is not.
GOP are not gerrymandering the way liberals do..
the supreme court rules using race to decide voters is illegal.
Dennis C Rathsam says
Democrats in Virginia started this gerrymandering….. The GOP finished it
Laurel says
Ever heard of the state of Texas?
melly says
Yup. Just like gerrymandering buried every single conservative voter in the far northeast. Blue–completely blue–from Maine to Rhode Island and damn near everything in between and beside.
I’m still waiting for all the hand-wringers to provide names/locations of any black people who have lost their right to vote.
Spoiler: there were none. No black person has lost their right to vote according to these new maps.
Atwp says
I will continue to vote.
Laurel says
Denial is a strong emotion.
Both sides have gerrymandered. The census is used for this, not the midterm call for seats by the President. To redistrict the state just before an election is simply wrong. The timing does not pass the smell test.
Yes, it’s illegal to gerrymander Florida to favor the white vote, and suppress the black vote, but it is also illegal to gerrymander Florida for political favoritism. You can try denying suppressing the black vote, but you cannot deny suppressing the political vote. This has been blatantly stated by Trump to get seats. President Trump has blatantly called to suppress the Democratic vote.
Now, the question is: Is this what you want for the country? To lose representation by either party? To have a one party country? What if your party loses, is all fair in love and war the next time around? This is not the American way.