Fred Smith helps make Washington’s NFL team do the right thing
The team name in question, of course, is Redskins. It has been a standing insult to our country’s first peoples since the team was created in 1933.
Michael Nelson
Columnist
Michael Nelson is contributing editor and columnist for The Daily Memphian, the political analyst for WMC-TV, and the Fulmer professor of political science at Rhodes College. His latest books are “Clinton's Elections: 1992, 1996, and the Birth of a New Era of Governance" and “The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2018.”
101 articles by Michael Nelson :
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July 2020
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Nelson: Strickland should be an agent of restraint
Public safety includes not taking actions that risk turning up the city’s temperature at a volatile time. In those moments the mayor needs to be an agent of restraint.
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June 2020
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Nelson: In these conflicted times, Mississippi shows the way
"Nuance and process are the boring but essential virtues we need to make good decisions about matters like state flags, Confederate monuments and public holidays."
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How the Supreme Court saved the day for a Memphis family
A year ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to the new owners of Kimbrough Fine Wine & Spirits. But their victory may be Pyrrhic.
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We survived 1968. We’ll thrive in 2020
Wonder why you don’t see Memphis in the national news? Because when a city doesn’t bleed that city doesn’t lead.
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We lack what the Mid-South needs – two-party competition
With Republicans in the driver’s seat in all three Mid-South Senate elections, are there competitive contests anywhere else on the ballot? The short answer: No.
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Never mind how we’re going to vote. What are we voting on?
Believe it or not, something important is on the August ballot.
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May 2020
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Sports betting is coming to Memphis, in the right way at the right time
And if the lottery board were less greedy, the state would actually make more money.
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When the Civil War siege of Corinth ended, the conquest of Memphis began
Even though Corinth was a small town of about 1,200, its location made it the key to controlling the western half of the Confederacy and its most important city, Memphis.
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Tennessean for vice president? No, but how about the Supreme Court
With no current Tennessee Democrat available to fulfill Biden’s pledge to choose a woman VP, how about his other promise: to “appoint the first black woman to the Supreme Court”?
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Nelson: Who casts Tennessee’s electoral votes, and why it matters now
“Faithless electors” – those who were elected to support the nominee of their party, then voted for someone else – have been rare. In the 13 presidential elections from 1964 to 2012 there were six. But in 2016 alone, there were seven faithless electors.
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April 2020
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Nelson: Memphis Massacre or Riot? What a difference a word makes
One reason riots and massacres can be hard to tell apart is that they usually begin and end in roughly the same way. It’s what happens in between that tells the tale.
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Nelson: ‘Enemy of the People’ tells us what we need to know about this pandemic
“An Enemy of the People” has been a theater staple for more than a century, but the play has never been more timely. A 2018 production in China was suppressed by the government because audiences were cheering the doctor who is the play's protagonist.
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Nelson: What do Trump and Tennessee’s Democratic Party have in common? Disdain for constitutional democracy
The Democratic voters of District 90 were going to have a choice in August about their nominee for state representative, which is what constitutional democracy is all about. But the state party’s executive committee denied them that choice by striking John DeBerry’s name from the ballot.
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Nelson: Rhodes takes the liberal arts to prison
The Women’s Therapeutic Residential Center (WTRC) at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary isn't like the jewel-like campus near Overton Park. But for students in this program, it’s an oasis of a different sort.
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Nelson: I look forward to worrying about stuff like whose face is on the $20 bill
When we once again have the luxury of addressing First-World problems, we can take up issues such as this one: Should Andrew Jackson be replaced by Harriet Tubman on currency?
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March 2020
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Nelson: Shiloh closed, but two online movies can take us to battle
“Shiloh: Fiery Trial,” the newer film, embodies up-to-date scholarship on the battle and enlists 350 Civil War re-enactors who flesh out the 17-member cast.
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Nelson: Sports betting is (finally, probably) coming to Tennessee. Let’s hope sports do, too
The good news for Tennesseans who want to bet legally on sports within the state’s borders is that, assuming the spring professional leagues reboot by late summer and college and pro football kick off this fall, the gambling apps really should be open in time.
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Nelson: Add Eggleston to list of Memphians who changed world
A joint exhibition of work by the famed photographer Eggleston and Jennifer Steinkamp at the Dixon Gallery has been extended to April 5. The Dixon is closed for two weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic, but currently scheduled to reopen March 31.
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Nelson: Pink Palace’s Tiger hoops exhibit is Memphis in a nutshell
In the University of Memphis Tigers' basketball museum exhibition, history is marked as B.F. and A.F. The F is for Finch.
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Nelson: What comes after Super Tuesday? Weird Wednesday
And in the race for Shelby County General Sessions Court clerk, candidates with experience relevant to the job but names unknown to the voters lost the usual game of local musical-chairs politics. Joe Brown, the Democrat. Paul Boyd, the Republican. These guys again?
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Nelson: Tennessee almost always a bellwether for Democratic nomination
The biggest difference between Al Gore in '88 and Michael Bloomberg '20 is the amount of money each could spend on Super Tuesday. Gore’s campaign was adequately funded by donors and federal campaign subsidies. Bloomberg’s has been spectacularly financed, with every dollar coming from his $60 billion-plus fortune.
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February 2020
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Not a fan of debates? Watch the Super Tuesday show anyway
Some critics argue that debates between candidates are shallow and superficial. To which I say: Compared to what? When else do we get to see them side by side, without their handlers?
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Nelson: ‘Music Through the Night’ host is a proud Memphian
McQueen’s particular stamp on the program has been to include selections by “living, breathing” composers of color and women composers. He incorporates recordings by Memphis artists such as Lecolian Washington and guitarist Lily Afshar.
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Nelson: The conservative case for moving Forrest’s bust
His defenders hail Nathan Bedford Forrest's 'great commander' status. But at Fort Pillow, Forrest gained temporary possession of a meaningless fort while making things worse for the Confederate military effort everywhere.
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