Editor’s note: Gevin Reynolds is a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris. He writes as a contributing author on issues of race, democracy, and politics. its roots and A resolute square. Follow @GevinReynolds on X. The views expressed here are his own. Read more opinions on CNN.
CNN
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With one stroke of a pen, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Thursday dissolved the board of governors of Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public Historically Black College and University (HBCU).
Provided by: Jevin Reynolds
Gevin Reynolds
you read that correctly. MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill, signed by the governor, that would remove all board members of the state’s only publicly funded historically black college. Because, these extremists argued, the university’s financial situation was so dire that the only possible solution was to fire the trustees and start from scratch.
Lee has since appointed new board members, but it’s important to have a clear picture of what happened here. TSU’s financial problems are not the result of widespread mismanagement on the part of university leadership. In fact, an audit released last week found no evidence of “fraud or misconduct by management.”
On the other hand, there is plenty of evidence of a lack of investment in TSU by Tennessee Republicans, who manufactured the very problems the school currently faces. According to the Biden-Harris administration, the state has had a TSU funding shortfall of more than $2 billion over the past 30 years. How can public universities that rely on public funding expect to succeed if they are denied the funding they deserve?
This lack of funding is not unique to TSU. Public HBCUs across the country have been defrauded of vital funds for decades. A recent letter from Departments of Education and Agriculture Secretary Miguel Cardona and Secretary Tom Vilsack says state legislatures have underfunded public land grant HBCUs by more than $13 billion over the past 30 years.
That’s why I can’t believe the Republican leadership of the Tennessee House of Representatives, who claimed that the purpose of dissolving the board was “to make TSU successful.” The unfortunate reality is that these extreme conservatives don’t seem to care about the success of HBCUs, and never have. This will ensure that each institution receives the funding it needs to succeed.
Moreover, these are the same people who are using their control over public education to attack diversity. all State university campuses within the state. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted 12 laws banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies on college campuses.
Many of these governors are also using their power to appoint MAGA supporters who share their disdain for DEI to state university boards. Take one of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ recent appointees. In his co-authored essay, he states that “DEI ideology” is “inherently hostile to the mission of universities.”
Others called for “all DEI initiatives.” [to] They will be excluded from higher education. ” By denying the underfunding of public HBCUs and the value of Black students on non-HBCU campuses, these extremists have made it very clear what kind of students they target and do not want to succeed. I have to.
They are also the ones waging war against the entire teachings of our nation’s history. But if you study the history they are trying to undo, you will see that the news from Tennessee is just the latest example of conservatives rejecting the notion that black people are capable of self-government.
We saw this phenomenon unfold during the violent overthrow of Reconstruction, a period in which black America made significant political gains. Black men won elections to state legislatures and the U.S. Congress because of the advances made possible by Black women’s organizing. However, Southern whites quickly recognized that progress as a threat to their power. In response, white supremacist mobs terrorized black people seeking to participate in democracy.
They lynched thousands of black men, women, and children with impunity. How did those in power react? By suggesting that black people are incapable of governing and attempting to justify violence. President Andrew Johnson himself said that blacks were “less able to govern than any other race” and that, if unchecked, they would “relapse into barbarism.”
Physical violence aside, the similarities between these actions and those taken by Tennessee lawmakers on Thursday are striking, and the evidence that these actions are taking a page out of Reconstruction-era Southern strategy is stark. There’s more. Lee signed another bill Thursday that repeals police reforms enacted by the city of Memphis in the wake of Tire Nichols’ murder last year.
On the night of January 7, 2023, Nichols was pulled over by five unscrupulous police officers and, after a brief pursuit, brutally beat a 29-year-old black man to death. The depraved act renewed calls to outlaw traffic stops, which allow police officers to stop motorists for relatively minor traffic violations. These are big reasons why cops get away with stopping black drivers disproportionately often, and they’ve been found to lead to violence more often than necessary.
In the decade leading up to Tire Nichols’ death, five people were injured or killed during pretexted traffic stops in Memphis, according to a presentation to the Memphis City Council by activists and organizers. And in the months that followed, the community, including activists, faith leaders, and elected officials, rallied under the courageous leadership of Taia Nichols’ family to demand change.
Change came three months later when the Memphis City Council unanimously passed an ordinance named after Tyre Nichols that banned nominal traffic stops.
Thanks to Mr. Lee and Republicans in the Legislature, change has come and gone, not just in Memphis but across the state. Tennessee’s new law prohibits any local government in the state from restricting the ability of police officers to “take all measures necessary to prevent and detect crime.”
Although the Republican Party claims to value local control, the actions of MAGA Republicans suggest that is not the case, especially when it comes to majority-black cities like Memphis. Similar things are happening in other states, including Mississippi, where state lawmakers are trying to crack down on Jackson. Like Southern lawmakers before them, the leaders of these states are hell-bent on pushing their racist policies forward by any means necessary.
With all of this in mind, I challenge you to do three things.
First, we need to understand that what is happening in Tennessee is not happening in a silo. The attack on TSU is part of a systematic underfunding of public HBCUs and a state-sanctioned attempt to whitewash higher education. This is just one example of the myriad ways in which the extremist supermajority of the Republican Party seeks to reverse and halt black progress, and has sought to do so throughout history.
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Second, we need to recognize that in terms of the strength of our democracy, these attacks are just as devastating as events like January 6th. By dissolving the boards of historically black universities against their will or by reversing good reforms enacted by local leaders, these extremists override democratic norms and It makes it harder for black people to believe that their state government represents them and that their vote matters. .
Third, we must vote to support democracy at every level. This is true not only at the presidential level, but also at the state and local levels. We must not lose sight of the fact that we are in a war for democracy. The outcome is determined by every line on every ballot in every precinct. This election season, whether we win or not is entirely up to us.
