Story perspectives

NAACP Lawsuit Claims Tennessee Map Suppresses Black Vote

5/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

NAACP filed a lawsuit claiming map violates Tennessee law and is Jim Cro style voter suppression.
Tennessee Republicans approved a map that splits Memphis into three districts, eliminating Rep. Steve Cohen’s majority-Black seat.
Republicans repealed a five-decade ban on mid-decade redistricting and replaced mail notices with a website posting requirement.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged changes, prompting Black lawmakers to call the plan a civil-rights attack invoking Jim Cro and Martin Luther King III.

History

Historical Context

After the 1993 Supreme Court ruling in Shaw v. Reno, authored by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the Court held that racial gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, protecting about 30 million minority voters. The NAACP now cites that precedent in challenging Tennessee’s new map that divides Memphis into three districts.

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Story summary

NAACP filed a lawsuit claiming map violates Tennessee law and is Jim Cro style voter suppression.
Tennessee Republicans approved a map that splits Memphis into three districts, eliminating Rep. Steve Cohen’s majority-Black seat.
Republicans repealed a five-decade ban on mid-decade redistricting and replaced mail notices with a website posting requirement.
U.S. President Donald Trump urged changes, prompting Black lawmakers to call the plan a civil-rights attack invoking Jim Cro and Martin Luther King III.

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