Otis Sanford
Sanford: 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.
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 259 articles by Otis Sanford :
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July 2021
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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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Otis Sanford Mississippi congressman right choice to lead insurrection committee
Thompson is not taking on this assignment as a neutral fact-finder. He does not have to be. The House is not a court of law and committee members are not unbiased jurors.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: On Memphis roads, fast drivers are making the rest of us furious
Law enforcement is not helpless in trying to curb the lawlessness. But it will take cooperation from all of us who want safer streets and highways.
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June 2021
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Otis Sanford Opinion: A politician, a columnist and an attempted meeting of the minds on race
Otis Sanford and Mark White have a friendly, but spirited, showdown over their polar opposite views about how to talk to Tennessee school children about race and racism.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: GOP’s latest push to silence discussion of race wouldn’t sit well with Mom
Criticize Critical Race Theory if you must. But Republicans cannot legislate away the lasting impact of slavery and racism on American history.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: With Confederate monuments gone, racist diatribes follow
An incident at Health Sciences Park goes beyond one opportunistic racist hothead with more Confederate flags than he has sense. It’s emblematic of the growing white resentment to America’s reckoning with race.
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May 2021
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Otis SanfordOpinion: Governor silent about law banning classroom discussion of race
Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill May 24 without comment. Because what could he really say that makes sense? His first and apparently only attempt to explain the rationale for the law would have been fine for a White Citizens Council meeting in the 1960s.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: New Wells documentary speaks to today’s reckoning with race
Ida B. Wells’ words and actions put to shame efforts by state legislatures today – including ours in Tennessee – to ban the teaching of systemic racism and its detrimental impact on people of color.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Legislature’s rush to end teaching of systemic racism lacked thought and research
Within the span of about three days, the House and Senate imposed their Caucasian-centered, conservative will on what can and cannot by taught in schools about racism’s sordid history and harmful impact.
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April 2021
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Public Safety Sanford: Judge Harry Wellford left a legacy of leadership in politics and the law
The judge deserves to be remembered as one of the most consequential public figures in Memphis during the second half of the 20th century, says Otis Sanford.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Strickland’s pick for police chief represents the change Memphis needs
CJ Davis will draw on her 28 years in the Atlanta Police Department, where she rose to commander of the Strategies and Special Projects Division. Isn’t that what Memphis needs, new strategies for fighting crime and making MPD more a part of the community?
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Otis Sanford Opinion: The Chauvin verdict is about more than one bad cop
Derek Chauvin’s conviction should continue the reckoning on race that started after Floyd’s murder shocked the world 11 months ago. A reckoning we have longed for since the night Thomas Moss and his companions were taken out and lynched in Memphis.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Note to mayor — make a splash when choosing police director
When it comes to a diverse pool of candidates, the list of finalists for the police director’s job is a homerun. Three are from inside the department. Three are women and five are African American. But this search comes with plenty of challenges.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: Derek Chauvin trial is must-see TV thanks to legendary Memphis lawyer
As I have watched the evidence meticulously unfold against Chauvin, I have also thought about the highly-respected late Memphis attorney S. Shepherd Tate and the role he played in making televised trials possible.
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March 2021
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Waste Pro has got to go
It’s time for the city to cancel its five-year, $33.1 million contract with Waste Pro.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Ford’s handling of Junior Achievement grant reminiscent of past scandals
An independent investigation by attorney Brian Faughnan flatly accuses Ford of deliberately deceiving his fellow commissioners by failing to disclose to them his obvious conflict of interest. To call Faughnan’s report damning is an understatement.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Legislative roadblocks to voting are reminders of our shameful past
Voter suppression is very much alive and well in 2021. The cruel violence that once accompanied it has been replaced by underhanded legislative tactics at various statehouses controlled by Republicans.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: Vaccine blunders make Harris vulnerable in 2022 reelection bid
The vaccine distribution debacle on Mayor Lee Harris’ watch will figure prominently in the GOP campaign to retake his office, the party’s Shelby County executive director says.
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Otis Sanford Opinion: Voter suppression efforts still on the minds of state GOP lawmakers
Among the misguided proposals presented at the Tennessee Legislature, none would have as much negative impact on the majority of Tennesseans as the bill introduced last week to abolish early voting in the state.
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February 2021
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Otis Sanford Opinion: It’s big oil vs. defiant communities in major environmental dispute
In this fight, Black people and white people are on the same side. So are local politicians who don’t always agree on matters of public policy.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: Two years in, Gov. Lee is still pandering rather than leading
But when it comes to serving up political red meat – in both coded and straightforward language – to far right conservatives, Lee has perfected that nicely.
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Otis SanfordOpinion: Legacy of George W. Lee is instructive for today’s GOP
Lee encouraged Black Memphians to support Democrat Lyndon Johnson in 1964. But when emerging Black leaders in Memphis pleaded for Lee to officially abandon the Republican Party and become a Democrat, he graciously declined.
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January 2021
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Otis SanfordSanford: Tennesseans, politicians and others must answer for insurrection
As we look ahead with hope, we must also look back and demand accountability.
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