Over protests in the capitol, Tennessee lawmakers joined the rush of southern Republicans to redraw congressional voting maps now that protections for minority voting power have been weakened.
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Tennessee lawmakers have joined the rush of Southern Republicans drawing new voting maps. This move came during protests in the Capitol building this morning.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) Hands off.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Hands off.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) Hands off.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Hands off.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Chanting) Hands off.
CHANG: Last week, the Supreme Court weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and its protections for minority communities. That set off a chain reaction of Southern states joining President Trump’s redistricting push before the congressional midterms. We’re joined now by Marianna Bacallao of member station WPLN in Nashville. Hi, Marianna.
MARIANNA BACALLAO, BYLINE: Hello.
CHANG: Hi. OK, so why don’t we start with the action lawmakers took there today in Tennessee, where you are. Tell us more.
BACALLAO: Yeah, the Tennessee legislature finished out a three-day sprint to pass new congressional maps dividing the city of Memphis into three different districts, and that gives Republicans an advantage to win the one seat in the state that is held by a Democrat out of the nine seats here. The public only had 24 hours to review the maps before lawmakers voted on them. Democrats staged a walkout during the vote in the House, and the state House was full of protesters chanting, setting off noisemakers. And that led the Senate to clearing out spectators from the chamber. The governor here, Bill Lee, was quick to sign these new changes into law, although he was initially hesitant to call a special session so close to the midterms in the fall, but after a phone call with Trump, he agreed.
CHANG: And these protesters that we heard, what was the case that they were making?
BACALLAO: You know, some of these protesters came from – to Nashville from Memphis early this morning. They’re concerned about the loss of Black representation, many pointing to the historical significance of their city and their state in the Civil Rights Movement. Many invoked Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated in Memphis. State Representative Justin J. Pearson echoed those points on the House floor, arguing that this would dilute the Black vote.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JUSTIN J PEARSON: These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist in the United States of America, Donald J. Trump. And what you are doing today is eviscerating the only Black majority congressional district in our state because we are majority Black.
BACALLAO: Some protesters from Memphis were arrested for refusing to clear the gallery, including Pearson’s brother.
CHANG: And with respect to Memphis specifically, can you tell us more about the voting issues there?
BACALLAO: Memphis is a majority Black district represented by a white Democrat in U.S. Representative Steve Cohen. It’s been a majority Black district for a long time. Republicans have said this is a partisan move, and it’s legal. State Representative Jason Zachary says that these new maps will reflect the overall state’s conservative bent.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
JASON ZACHARY: This map was drafted based on politics, based on population and the opportunity for the first time in history to us to – for us to send an entire Republican delegation from Tennessee to represent the state in Washington, D.C.
BACALLAO: But Memphis’ district was pretty compact before this. The new district will cover nearly 300 miles.
CHANG: OK. Well, of course, all of this is not just going on in Tennessee. Can you talk more about how it fits into the national picture at this point?
BACALLAO: Well, in just the last few days, Republican lawmakers in Louisiana, Alabama and South Carolina have rushed to redistrict. In Louisiana, the governor suspended an election in which some people had already cast ballots during early voting. The party in power in the White House usually loses House seats in the midterms, and Trump had already gotten Texas and some other states to redistrict starting last year.
CHANG: All right. That’s Marianna Bacallao from WPLN. Thank you very much.
BACALLAO: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF J. COLE SONG, “FORBIDDEN FRUIT”)
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