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Black residents, who make up 25 percent of Fayette County, Tenn., won a new electoral map last year to change an all-white board of commissioners. They worry the Supreme Court’s ruling could threaten that.
Wendell Wainwright, 75, was not surprised to see the news last month that the Supreme Court had dealt another blow to the Voting Rights Act.
“I know this country,” he said, recounting how as a Black child in Fayette County, Tenn., he had been hosed down during a desegregation march. “I’m just wondering, how long is it going to take Fayette County to pounce on the ruling?”
Many are asking that same question across this rural county in western Tennessee, less than an hour from Memphis. Just last year, Black voters won a new map for the board of commissioners, after arguing that the old one violated the civil rights law by diluting the power of minorities. All 19 of the current commissioners are white, even though 25 percent of the county is Black.
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Public schools, for example, which predominantly serve Black students, are severely underfunded by the county, residents say. This summer, more than 70 public school employees will be laid off. Many Black residents, most of them Democrats, blame the entirely white and conservative board of commissioners, most of whom are farmers with land who do not want to raise property taxes. Some believe such a tax could bolster school budgets.
Black People Won a Voice in This County. The Voting Case May Silence It.
Black residents, who make up 25 percent of Fayette County, Tenn., won a new electoral map last year to change an all-white board of commissioners. They worry the Supreme Court’s ruling could threaten that.
Wendell Wainwright, 75, was not surprised to see the news last month that the Supreme Court had dealt another blow to the Voting Rights Act.
“I know this country,” he said, recounting how as a Black child in Fayette County, Tenn., he had been hosed down during a desegregation march. “I’m just wondering, how long is it going to take Fayette County to pounce on the ruling?”
Many are asking that same question across this rural county in western Tennessee, less than an hour from Memphis. Just last year, Black voters won a new map for the board of commissioners, after arguing that the old one violated the civil rights law by diluting the power of minorities. All 19 of the current commissioners are white, even though 25 percent of the county is Black.
…
Public schools, for example, which predominantly serve Black students, are severely underfunded by the county, residents say. This summer, more than 70 public school employees will be laid off. Many Black residents, most of them Democrats, blame the entirely white and conservative board of commissioners, most of whom are farmers with land who do not want to raise property taxes. Some believe such a tax could bolster school budgets.
