Black voters in US South struggle for political voice under new maps

For Jadu Bin Ahmed Bin Hassan, a 76-year-old African American who grew up in segregated Memphis, a move by Republicans to split the majority-Black city among three US congressional districts smacks of the racist policies of the last century.

"As a child, you couldn't even go to certain stores... because they would not sell to you. You see, it was so prejudiced and so racist here," he said of the southern state of Tennessee.

"And it still is, and it's not changing, right? It's not changing."

Dressed in a beige suit and a silk scarf, Bin Hassan spoke to AFP at the Memphis Islamic Center as it hosted a candidate forum, during which voters could also learn about the new districts.

Tennessee's Republican-controlled legislature redrew the congressional map in May, days after the US Supreme Court rolled back civil rights protections that had ensured at least one of the state's nine districts remained majority Black.

That district had been Tennessee's 9th, which encompassed Memphis and was reliably won by Democrats.

The new map splits Memphis up among three districts stretching far out into rural Tennessee that are all expected to be won by Republicans.

Many African Americans like Bin Hassan worry that under the new maps, their voices will not count in the November midterm elections, in which President Donald Trump's Republicans are battling to retain control of Congress.

In late April, the US Supreme Court weakened protections under the Voting Rights Act, a landmark law passed in 1965 at the height of the civil rights movement, designed to prevent former segregated Southern states from undermining the voting rights of African Americans.

After Tennessee redrew its maps, several other Republican-majority Southern states followed suit.

"There's definitely some angst because (people) know that the black vote has been diluted in Memphis," said Reverend Earle Fisher, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church and founder of the advocacy group, Up The Vote 901.

Black clergy in the city, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, are redoubling their efforts to mobilize voters.

"There is chaos because some people don't even know what district they might be in now," said the pastor, who organizes civic education sessions for congregants.

"There was confusion," confirms Brenn Scott, who was going door-to-door with her daughter to inform residents of the Black neighborhood of Whitehaven.

She said information disseminated by local organizations and churches has helped to clarify things.

Another church pastor, Reverend Lawrence Turner of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, said that historically with the ninth district, "we've been able to choose" our representative, but that appears set to change.

"With our interest being coupled in with persons and counties whose realities are much different than what we face in Memphis, it makes that a whole lot more difficult than has been in the past," he said.

He founded the Black Clergy Collaborative in 2020, at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. The organization brings together dozens of Black churches on social justice issues, including voter education.

On the last day of early voting for the primary elections ahead of the midterms, many Whitehaven residents who opened their doors to volunteers from the group had already cast their ballots.

One resident wore a T-shirt that read, "Voting is my black job."

For Lee Kendrick Harris, who had just voted at a polling station at a Whitehaven church, the redistricting "is a test of resiliency in how we can come together and survive."

"I think we have an uphill battle," said the 34-year-old, wearing a "Memphis" t-shirt.

"But as it is coming for those who came before me, our elders and ancestors, we know how to roll up our sleeves and fight. So that's what we're gonna do."