SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Some of the effects of President Trump's redistricting effort can be seen in Nashville's historically Black neighborhood, North Nashville. It's already been represented by white Republicans. Now it's being divided into two districts leaning to the GOP. And that new division reminds residents of another time they say the government weakened their political power. WPLN's Marianna Bacallao reports.
(CROSSTALK)
MARIANNA BACALLAO, BYLINE: At a block party in North Nashville, state Senator Charlane Oliver is talking to voters and other movers and shakers in the community, like county judge Howard Gentry.
CHARLANE OLIVER: Hey, Mr. Gentry. How are you?
HOWARD GENTRY: How you doing? I just want to make you smile.
OLIVER: Oh, thank you. Thank you.
GENTRY: (Inaudible).
OLIVER: Yeah, it's good to see you.
BACALLAO: Dancers and rappers perform while organizers speak out against Tennessee's mid-decade redistricting plan. Oliver tells me the community is still close.
OLIVER: The Republicans can split a district on paper, but they can't split our hearts. They can't divide us.
BACALLAO: Republican leaders in the legislature sanctioned Oliver for her protest during the redistricting debate. They say she broke decorum when she stood on her Senate desk with a banner that read - no Jim Crow 2.0.
OLIVER: It's unfortunate, but it's also a telltale sign where they split the districts. Look at where we are. We're on Buchanan Street.
BACALLAO: The two sides of the street are now in different congressional districts. Their old district was already mostly white and represented by a Republican, but the map didn't split up the neighborhood. Oliver says this new split echoes another older dividing line that carved up this historic Black arts district.
(SOUNDBITE OF CARS PASSING)
BACALLAO: Interstate 40 - in the 1960s, the construction of this highway cut through here, displacing thousands of people and hundreds of businesses.
LEAROTHA WILLIAMS: That area held considerable political power.
BACALLAO: That's Learotha Williams, professor of African American and public history at Tennessee State University. He says the construction of I-40 stifled the influence of Black institutions like First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill that trained many Civil Rights leaders.
WILLIAMS: But with the interstate, a lot of these centers become displaced 'cause now a lot of those folks that went to those churches, they might not be going to these churches anymore.
BACALLAO: They could still vote together, but that's ending. This spring, the Supreme Court weakened one of the crowning achievements of the Voting Rights Act. That paved the way for the legislature to divide the neighborhood. Jamel Campbell-Gooch, a community organizer in North Nashville, says that's going to make it harder for people here to be heard.
JAMEL CAMPBELL-GOOCH: If people don't know who their representatives are, then they actually don't know who to target or who to work with to improve their community.
BACALLAO: For example, rapid gentrification has raised housing prices here. That's not as big of a concern in rural areas that are now in their same congressional district. But Republicans say having different viewpoints in a district makes lawmakers consider the region as a whole.
SCOTT GOLDEN: Because it's not just one section of issues that they have to be concerned about - it's how it impacts each of the (ph) layers of their constituents.
BACALLAO: That's Tennessee GOP Chair Scott Golden. Now, he says, Tennesseans will have more candidates vying for their votes.
GOLDEN: They went from a member of Congress that wasn't opposed and there wasn't much, you know, primary action.
BACALLAO: He says redistricting energized local Republicans.
GOLDEN: So the Republican faithful, the Republican parties immediately got geared up. And they were really excited about it.
BACALLAO: Back at the block party in North Nashville, activists like Tequila Johnson are determined for the community to be heard, even with redistricting.
TEQUILA JOHNSON: If you Black, we got your back.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: All right. All right.
JOHNSON: That's what it's about. Give it up for that, y'all. If you Black, we got your back.
BACALLAO: A few feet away from her, there's a voter registration drive. And people are registering together, even if they'll be voting in separate congressional districts. For NPR News, I'm Marianna Bacallao in Nashville.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.