Columnist
Otis Sanford holds the Hardin Chair of Excellence in Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis. Contact him at 901-678-3669 or at o.sanford@memphis.edu. Follow him on Twitter @otissanford.
65 articles by Otis Sanford :
The unspoken sentiment behind objections to relaxing residency rules appears to be the prospect that white officers from small towns in North Mississippi, West Tennessee and Eastern Arkansas would be policing unfamiliar territory in North Memphis, South Memphis and Orange Mound.
Instead of the word salad that came from Tennessee’s senior Republican senator late on the evening of Jan. 30, all we really needed was a single sentence.
State legislators and the Memphis and Shelby County mayors are among elected officials who have endorsed a presidential candidate and plan to campaign for their choice.
Republicans for the Rule of Law is advertising in Tennessee to drum up support for a fair Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The group hopes to put pressure on Sen. Lamar Alexander to vote to have witnesses during the trial.
This political tempest involves the thorny issue of whether Tennessee should continue to participate in a federal refugee resettlement program.
Partisan anger for and against President Donald Trump will drive voters to the polls in high numbers. But other factors, such as health care, will play a role.
U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant voiced support when the attorney general criticized communities that fail to show proper respect for law officers. Were they also concerned when Trump attacked FBI leaders?
A $7 increase for enhanced trash collection stalled in a City Council vote. If the increase isn’t approved, 199 full-time Solid Waste employees will lose their jobs.
Blighted property on Union at B.B. King Boulevard became AutoZone Park. A new hotel occupies the site of the bus station. Now Union Row has the potential to remake Downtown Memphis.
It wasn’t just the insulting language that cost Berlin Boyd his council seat. Many voters were upset that he tended to favor big business over the needs of neighborhoods.
Rage and guns are a bad combination. In Memphis last weekend, eight people were shot, one of them killed, in altercations at a strip club, a convenience store and outside a Beale Street honky-tonk. On Monday, one discount store customer shot another four times.
The landmark lawsuit accusing the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department of spying on citizens returns to court 40 years later.
On the night Mississippi voters are deciding between two degrees of conservatism, Shelby County Democrats will gather in Germantown to ask the question, “How Liberal Are You?”
Trump’s use of the word “lynching” in his tweet was designed to change the conversation from damaging testimony that is shifting public opinion toward the conclusion that he is unfit for the presidency.
Under ordinary circumstances, the fatal shooting in Fort Worth and the police residency issue in Memphis would have nothing in common. But these are not ordinary times where police and community relations are concerned.
This former president doesn’t build walls to keep people out. He builds houses to put people in. Jimmy Carter's demeanor, tone and work ethic stand in start contrast to the current occupant of the White House.
On Oct. 3, 2019, 28 years to the day of his stunning mayoral victory, Dr. Willie W. Herenton gathered again with supporters on election night in Memphis. He was again the underdog, but this time the outcome was humbling.
Joe Ford and his son Justin Ford aren't running for office in the Oct. 3 election, but each man is putting out a list of endorsements.
Tami Sawyer’s already longshot quest for mayor has imploded. And the wounds were all self-inflicted.
The lesser known candidates for City Court clerk may not say it publicly, but there is resentment that Myron Lowery and Joe Brown hope voters choose familiarity over qualifications.
Where was the racial diversity in the room that would have, and should have, said we cannot publish this cover?
Willie Herenton still trails Mayor Jim Strickland in the mayor’s internal polls. A televised debate would be Herenton’s chance to convince skeptical voters that he’s still got it.
An unassuming, 87-year-old, recently retired black sanitation worker provides a powerful and authentic endorsement of Jim Strickland.
Investigators knew that the owners acted illegally by hiring undocumented workers. If they wanted to make this crackdown an example of equal justice, they would have pulled owners out of their offices the same day they snatched immigrant workers away from their frightened children.
Because of our toxic political climate, the two biggest motivators that drive voters to the polls are anger and excitement. The city election is nonpartisan and falls between the 2018 midterm and next year’s presidential contest, which may leave Memphis voters complacent.
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