Allow me to report a bit of extremely important information with regard to District 9 as the “historically Black Congressional District” in Tennessee and the current mission to save District 9 so as to “Let Democracy Ring” in this state.   

Congressional District 9 could be lost this year as a majority black Congressional district, and once more Tennessee will become the only southern state with no black in the U.S. Congress.    

Year 2010 is the next starting period of U.S. Census taking, and in particular, the next re-apportionment, re-districting or gerrymandering period.  

Not only that, Tennessee through re-apportionment could lose a Congressional District seat because of an increased Mexican-American population in other states.

The winner in the 2008 Congressional District 9 race will have a chance to manipulate wards and precincts into District 9 becoming a non-black majority Congressional district.

This is not unusual (rather, customary) for incumbents to create advantages to win the next election or elections.    

So, for the first time since the Civil War, black Tennesseans may have no chance of being elected in the U.S. Congress. Yet, there are enough African Americans concentrated in the western Tennessee counties of Fayette, Hardeman, Madison and Shelby to create (or gerrymander) at least two majority Black Congressional Districts.  

However, the goal here is to “let democracy ring” by electing just one black Tennessean to the Congress.  

For several months, a silent group has been working to establish a black consensus candidate for Congressional District 9 because the number of African Americans running represents a recipe for the demise of “Tennessee’s only Black Congressional District.”    

Names of persons on this mission are absent from print because they do not wish to be called divisive, racist, or anti-Semitic as I have been so wrongly labeled.

Then, there are blacks with a Willie Lynch mentality that believe none of the black candidates are good enough to represent them in Congress – in other words, “White man’s ice is colder than the black man’s ice.”   

Nevertheless, in a few days a consensus black candidate for Congressional District 9 will be announced.

Selection of the candidate will be based on monetary resources, name recognition, know-how, proven ability to amass a large number of votes on this level, and the person who has an extra advantage.                       

William Larsha

Remember, this could be the last chance for District 9 voters to elect an African American to the U.S. Congress and “Let Democracy Ring” in Tennessee.

(William Larsha is a community activist and freelance columnist.)