See How the G.O.P. Cut Up Tennessee’s Only Majority Black District

Key Points:

• The Supreme Court’s recent decision weakening the Voting Rights Act has enabled Republican-led Southern states, like Tennessee, to redraw congressional maps, breaking up traditionally Democratic, majority-Black districts such as Memphis’s Ninth Congressional District into Republican-leaning districts.
• Tennessee’s new map eliminates the state’s only majority-Black district by dividing Memphis’s Black population among three predominantly white districts, a move Republicans claim is politically motivated rather than racially driven.
• Similar redistricting efforts are underway in other Southern states, with Republicans aiming to consolidate control, while Democrats explore countermeasures; for example, Louisiana is preparing a new map expected to dilute majority-Black districts following a court ruling against its previous map.
• Tennessee’s prior redistricting of Nashville’s district in 2022, which split the city into three Republican-leaning districts, set a precedent for politically motivated map changes that weaken Democratic urban representation without explicitly citing race.
• The N.A.A.C.P. Tennessee State Conference has filed a lawsuit challenging the new Memphis map ahead of the August 6 primaries, arguing that the redistricting undermines Black voters’ ability to elect preferred candidates despite official claims denying racial considerations.