- Tennessee state lawmakers are redistricting to eliminate the last Democratic-held seat in the state, sparking opposition from Black residents and activists in Chattanooga.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Afternoon light slipped through the curtains of a dimly lit room on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Chattanooga. Black residents, clergy members and activists gathered in early May to organize opposition to Tennessee state lawmakers’ congressional redistricting effort, aimed at eliminating the last Democratic-held seat in the state.
The rapid redistricting effort in May by Republican state lawmakers came in response to a major U.S. Supreme Court decision, Louisiana v. Calais in late April carving out Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement.
During a meeting hosted by the Hamilton County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, NAACP, Chattanooga resident Fran Pierce stood in front of the podium. She apologized to the crowd, sitting in folding chairs, for arriving late…