Otis Sanford
Sanford: Blackburn proves she can be queen of mean
Sen. Marsha Blackburn employed an unmistakably racist dog whistle in casting Andre Mathis as a criminal who cannot be trusted to sit as an appellate court judge.
Otis Sanford
Columnist
Otis Sanford is professor emeritus of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis and political commentator for WATN-TV ABC24 News. Contact him at o.sanford@memphis.edu.
There are 256 articles by Otis Sanford :
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January 2022
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Otis SanfordSanford: With one slap, Sidney Poitier confronted racism for all of us
The iconic actor played roles in the 1950s and 60s that depicted Black men as strong, educated and caring. But also ones willing to stare down racism with a steely-eyed resolve.
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OpinionSanford: Two infamous assaults on democracy, but only one reasonable response
“It’s easy to draw comparisons between what happened on ‘Bloody Sunday’ at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. ... But there is one major difference between these two infamously historic events.”
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December 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: Political parties should not define us, despite what a respected poll says
For more than a decade, a poll conducted twice a year by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt has been a reliable barometer of the mood of Tennesseans about the issues affecting the state and the politicians we elect to state and federal offices.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Who was Odell Horton? ‘An exceptional man,’ that’s who
Horton was a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta and Howard University Law School in Washington. After an illustrious career in Memphis, the federal judiciary would be Horton’s final and most impactful calling.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Blackburn is on Trump’s VP list, but is the conservative stalwart extreme enough?
News outlets continue to lend credence to Donald Trump’s flirtation with seeking a second term in 2024.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Lang Wiseman was a valuable player in Ford Megasite deal
Lang Wiseman, 50, said his greatest satisfaction in his dual role was his work making the planned Ford truck assembly plant at the Megasite of West Tennessee in Haywood County a reality.
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November 2021
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OpinionSanford: Agricenter cotton yields a reminder of real meaning of Thanksgiving
“The truth is, farm life historically for African Americans in the South was one of hardship and despair.”
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Otis SanfordSanford: Dr. King’s immortal words are distorted by critical race theory opponents
“It’s easy for (Mississippi Gov. Tate) Reeves and others of his ilk to continually recite Dr. King’s words about content of character and pretend that racism no longer exists.”
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Otis SanfordSanford: Schools are better when we add trust, subtract partisan politics
Quiet as it’s kept, some parents want their children to learn the accurate history of America and the role that race, gender, ethnicity and privilege played in that history.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Let’s keep partisan politics out of school board races
‘It’s too bad Republicans in the state legislature don’t read the election commission web site. They never got the memo about nonpartisanship.’
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October 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: Frenzied Republicans are playing political games with people’s lives
Tennessee Republicans have been railing against businesses, local governments and schools for doing everything in their power to control the spread of a virus that has infected 1.2 million Tennesseans and led to more than 16,000 needless deaths.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Colin Powell was America’s moral leader without the title of president
Otis Sanford: “...while Powell never sought the office himself, he had tremendous influence with voters during tough presidential election years.”
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Otis SanfordSanford: Morgan’s run for county mayor will test his readiness for bare-knuckle partisan politics
Worth Morgan formally announced Monday, Oct. 11, as a Republican candidate for Shelby County mayor.
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September 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: For Gov. Lee, landing a Ford assembly plant makes his reelection a cinch
The man just brought a Ford assembly plant to the state with more jobs than anyone in this region could have imagined. How can his potential challengers, Republican or Democrat, top that?
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City of MemphisSanford: Shelby’s 2020 census figures expose stagnation that must be addressed
Shelby may still be the largest of Tennessee’s 95 counties, but it long ago lost the influence and cachet that it once enjoyed statewide.
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Otis SanfordSanford: We can reclaim the unity that followed 9/11
After the most horrific attack on American soil in our lifetime, we stood unified against a common enemy. And, despite our differences today, I believe we can do so again.
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Otis SanfordSanford: COVID-19 has highlighted our many differences, but we can overcome them
So yes, COVID has laid bare our social inequities and made our divisiveness seem irreparable. It is not.
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August 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: In the battle against COVID, let’s listen to the experts and ignore the nonsense
And now that the Food and Drug Administration has moved the Pfizer vaccine from emergency-use authorization to full approval, I expect to see more employers, public and private, requiring the vaccine as a condition of employment.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Our governor is failing us just when we need leadership the most
How did a seemingly rational, successful, God-fearing businessman – albeit with no previous political or government experience – so easily become a wavering tool of the far right without exhibiting so much as a shred of credible leadership?
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Otis SanfordSanford: Alvin Motley was entitled to freedom too, but was needlessly killed instead
Without question, this is another senseless shooting death that could have been avoided in a number of ways.
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Otis SanfordSanford: 44 years after ‘Roots,’ we still can’t handle the truth about racism and slavery
It remains unclear how far teachers can go in discussing how racial injustice in the past impacts our society today. Republican lawmakers say that discussion is off limits. I say it is necessary.
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July 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: New Health Department director weathered unnecessary political storm
Otis Sanford says the dispute between Mayor Lee Harris and County Commissioner Mark Billingsley seems to portend the year ahead for politics in Shelby County.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: End is near for Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at Capitol
Forrest believed that the worth of Black people was only as laborers, nothing more.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: A fitting tribute to Ida B. Wells is an end to senseless violence
Otis Sanford: ‘I am calling on all Memphians to honor Wells this week and beyond by committing to help forge a more peaceful city. Deadly gun violence does not have to be just the way it is in the big city.’
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