Otis Sanford
Sanford: 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.
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 234 articles by Otis Sanford :
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January 2020
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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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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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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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Otis SanfordSanford: A compassionate, sobering message to a former mayor
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.
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September 2019
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Fords join the battle of the ballots
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Sawyer’s hurtful words come back to hurt her
Tami Sawyer’s already longshot quest for mayor has imploded. And the wounds were all self-inflicted.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Will voters give well-qualified young clerk candidates a chance?
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: A magazine cover inspires outrage, and a critical question
Where was the racial diversity in the room that would have, and should have, said we cannot publish this cover?
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August 2019
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Otis SanfordSanford: Herenton’s refusal to debate is a ‘grievous error’
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Mayor mines campaign gold with Nickleberry endorsement
An unassuming, 87-year-old, recently retired black sanitation worker provides a powerful and authentic endorsement of Jim Strickland.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: ICE agents didn’t target plant owners in Mississippi raids. Why not?
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.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Will Memphis voters sit this one out?
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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July 2019
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Otis Sanford Sanford: We’re waking up to the crisis among young black men
Poverty, crime and implicit bias have a devastating effect on black male students. Researchers found the educational achievement gap between black and white students amounted to "the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession.”
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Guest Columnists Sanford: Trump’s tweets make MAGA’s meaning clear
Trump’s slogan from the beginning was code for marginalizing people of color as different and inferior, while assuring white Americans who have an innate fear and distrust of multiculturalism that they would have a president who was always on their side.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: His seat is a target, but Cohen is having the time of his political life
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, first elected in 2006, plans to seek reelection in 2020 and 2022, but it's no secret that more than a few Democrats are positioning themselves to run for the seat the moment he decides to step aside.
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Otis Sanford Sanford: There’s a patriotic message behind desegregation busing
African-Americans were not about to just show up at all-white public schools and trust that they would be accepted. It required the power of the federal courts – and in some instances the muscle of the federal government – to force change.
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June 2019
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Otis Sanford Sanford: Vote for a mayor who can handle a crisis
As former Memphis mayors Dick Hackett and A C Wharton can attest, the top city job requires political skill in the face of bad news or calamity.
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