NASHVILLE – Fayette County commissioners violated the Voting Rights Act with the adoption of a 2021 rezoning plan that stripped black voters of equal opportunity, the U.S. Department of Justice The lawsuit was filed Wednesday.

“The county board intentionally rejected multiple district plans that would have combined the district’s black communities that allowed black voters to elect representatives of their choice.” News Release From the department.

In doing so, the committee rejected “explicit advice” from both its own Constituency Change Commission and the lawyers of external constituencies. to the lawsuit.

Instead, the committee adopted a plan without a majority minority district voting 10-8 with one abstention, rather than one of the last two maps recommended by the Redemption Committee. A month later, the committee once again rejected advice that their chosen plan “will not be held under the lawsuit,” with 12-6 votes for one abstention, and the majority of minority districts still not in the map. A modified version has been adopted.

According to the state director’s local district guide, county legislative bodies must consider minority representation during the development of new districts.

Fayette County Mayor Rare “Skip” Taylor confirmed that the county is considering lawsuits but declined to comment further.

The lawsuit further alleges that a district plan adopted in 2021 was built, built from the 2011 rezoning cycle that the county commission “successfully reduced black political power.” In 2010, four black officials served as seats on the committee. It fell to 1 by 2018 and went to zero after the committee adopted a plan without a majority black district in 2021.

The county’s black voting age population is 25.9%, but since the 2021 plan was adopted, no black candidates have been elected to the 19-member counting committee, but four black candidates have implemented it. It was done. Sylvester Logan, a longtime election-winning black commissioner who previously won the election for many years, lost to a white candidate in the Republican primary after the district’s line was redrawn, the lawsuit says.

Gloria Jean Sweet Love, chairman of the NAACP Tennessee Conference, was born and raised in Fayette County and has seen first-hand history of “looking to protect black people from the vote.” She said she was excited to see the Justice Department take action.

“This had to happen for a long time,” Sweet Love said Thursday.

Request for community coalition issues for Blueoval City’s interests, call for negotiations to Ford

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, is based on the court declaration that the plan was “at least partly adopted with that intent,” and that the plan was used in future elections. We aim to prevent it from being done. Diminish the voting power of county black voters. ”

“Black voters need to equalize opportunities to select candidates, but the rezoning map adopted by Fayette County did not provide that opportunity,” said the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Assistant Vice-General of Kristen Clark said in a news release. “The Department of Justice is committed to enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, ensuring that all eligible citizens have equal opportunities to select elected officials. Our democracy is what makes every community so that It works best when you have a fair and equal opportunity to select candidates.”

The lawsuit also points to Fayette County’s discrimination history, citing two federal lawsuits filed in the 1950s and 1960s, two cases to protect the rights of black voters.

Of the approximately 44,175 people living in Fayette County, 69.5% are white and 27.8% are black. 2023 US Census Estimates. Black residents of the county have experienced considerable disparity. 21.7% of black residents live under the poverty line compared to 4.3% of white residents, with the average per capita income of white residents almost twice that of black residents.

According to the lawsuit, Black residents have not owned countywide offices, represented Fayette County in state offices, or passed a sentence in Fayette County.

Fayette County is one of the clusters of rural West Tennessee counties that are projected to aim for explosive growth in the coming decades thanks to the new Ford Motor Company. Electric car manufacturing factory It is located just north of Stanton, Tennessee county.

Sekou Franklin, chairman of the NAACP’s Tennessee Congress’ political action committee, said Fayette County has attracted attention from voting rights litigants nationwide, but DOJ filed lawsuits in the last week of President Joe Biden’s administration. I was surprised to see him wake up. Franklin describes Fayette County as an influential area of ​​the Tennessee economy due to its proximity to Bleuval City, noting the recent rise in white residents coming in from Shelby County.

“Needs are probably zero because of the most important voting rights movement in Tennessee’s modern civil rights history,” Franklin said. Inside Tent City.

Tennessee advocacy group for everyone and the good neighbors of Blue Barbal highlights the historical shortcomings facing Black Fayette County residents. Negotiate a legally binding community benefit agreement With Ford. They say the plants and the associated growth will mostly hit minorities and low-income households as the cost of living increases.

The organization refers to the state director 2022 Attempt to take over the Mason chartersmall black towns near the border between Tipton and Fayette counties, and state reports. Black farmer with low balls For the land needed to build the transport infrastructure of the project as part of the comprehensive theme.

“It’s not a surprise to us. We raised this information, especially around Fayette County Mayor Skip Taylor, because he sat when this decision occurred,” the state said. Overall coordinator Rebekah Gorbea’s Tennessee state said Thursday.

“Taylor is on Ford’s Equitable Growth Advisory Committee for this Blue Val City project. I don’t think he’s at all fair. Fayette County was under a. Court order separating public schools Since 1965, and has entered New consent order To further separate in 2023 with the US Department of Justice to reduce racial disparities.

“We will continue to fight for community benefits contracts with people on earth. That’s what we believe, and that’s what we think we really see fair growth,” Golberg said. I said that.

Fayette County DOJ