Otis Sanford
We’re missing national unity in this crisis
The dissension has filtered down to statehouses and into the streets, with thoughtless protesters thumbing their noses at social distancing and demanding that states end stay-at-home orders.
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 248 articles by Otis Sanford :
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April 2020
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Opinion
Otis Sanford -
Sanford
Otis SanfordRace remains a factor, even in a pandemic
The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on African Americans shines a spotlight on racial disparities that translate into different health outcomes for whites and blacks.
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Opinion
Otis SanfordSanford: West Memphis mayor deserves a long-distance pat on the back
The governor of Arkansas opposes allowing cities to issue their own stay-at-home orders, but that's not stopping Mayor Marco McClendon from moving forward with his curfew for West Memphis.
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opinion
Otis SanfordSanford: The Trump-Corker plan to put profit over people went bust – fortunately
I knew that former Sen. Bob Corker briefly served as a Tennessee commissioner of finance. What I didn’t know is that Corker cares more about finances than human lives. I knew he had guts. I also thought he had a heart.
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March 2020
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Otis Sanford Sanford: I missed my Sunday school class. I have no regrets
Many Memphis churches, particularly those with mostly African American congregations, have not suspended in-person worship, underscoring the importance the church has in African American life. But the ritual of gathering to worship, even in a spotlessly clean building, is now much too risky.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Take the CDC’s advice: ‘Don’t be nervous to work with the media!’
A Tennessee legislator's tweet that "the national media is promoting fear and sheer panic" earns well-deserved criticism.
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Premium
Otis SanfordSanford: No more Mr. Nice Guy
Gov. Bill Lee sticks to his guns, unmoved by pleas from law enforcement officials, mayors, gun merchants and firearms trainers.
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Opinion Sanford: Black voters bring Uncle Joe back
Voters are yearning to be free – of the nutty, crude and corrupt. They want moderation in our national politics, and a center-left leader at the helm of the executive branch whom everyone knows and a majority of Americans trust.
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February 2020
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Otis SanfordSanford: Voting is serious. Just ask 105-year-old Charlotte Robertson
Election commission records show Robertson has participated in every presidential election going back to the 1970s – and no doubt long before that. And she rarely misses a Memphis municipal, county or state election, including primaries.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Tennessee has a man problem in politics, public policy
Far too many of this state’s political leaders have a paternalistic and chauvinistic attitude toward women. And what’s worse, these guys just don’t care how it looks.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Put the police residency requirement to a vote
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Lamar Alexander needed courage – and an editor
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.
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January 2020
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Memphis politicos pick their presidential candidates
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.
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Otis SanfordSanford: GOP group seeking fair impeachment trial focuses on Tennessee senator
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.
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Otis SanfordSanford: Gov. Lee stands up to state GOP on refugee issue
This political tempest involves the thorny issue of whether Tennessee should continue to participate in a federal refugee resettlement program.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: The year of the voter
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.
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December 2019
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Otis SanfordSanford: Does Trump also support law enforcement?
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?
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Otis SanfordSanford: Union Avenue is ground zero for change in Memphis
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.
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November 2019
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Guest ColumnistsSanford: Berlin Boyd couldn’t un-ring the bell
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.
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Guest ColumnistsSanford: A lot of people are angry; too many of them have guns
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.
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Otis SanfordSanford: A 1978 consent decree against police spying is as modern as the Constitution
The landmark lawsuit accusing the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department of spying on citizens returns to court 40 years later.
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October 2019
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Shelby County Democrats embrace the L word
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?”
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Premium
Otis SanfordSanford: Trump loaded his Twitter bomb with racial shrapnel on purpose
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.
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Premium
Otis SanfordSanford: Tragedy in Fort Worth should affect our police residency debate
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: A great ex-president shows up for work in Nashville
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.
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