The Longtime Role Of Race In Memphis Politics
A new book explores how race has shaped politics in Tennessee’s second-largest city. It starts with a political boss named Edward Hull Crump, a white man who courted black voters.
Eventually, the city’s black population flexed its own political muscle and elected a black mayor for the first time in 1991. Along the way the city saw racial strife similar to many southern cities, including the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.
Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson speaks with Otis Sanford (@OtisSanford), author of “From Boss Crump to King Willie: How Race Changed Memphis Politics” and professor of journalism at the University of Memphis.
Interview Highlights
On Edward Hull Crump, or ‘Boss Crump’
“Boss Crump was the undisputed political and overall boss of Memphis for almost 50 years. He was only mayor a short period of time, a congressman for two terms, but he ran Memphis and Shelby County and a lot of Tennessee politics for most of his adult life. He was just a political figure that — there’s never been one like
