Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee

Racial authoritarian preemption occurs when state governments overturn, override, and alter the governing power of racially diverse municipalities. Using Tennessee as a case study, this article looks at the convergence of race, authoritarian governance, and state preemption. Three components of raci...

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Main Author: Sekou Franklin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/1/3
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author Sekou Franklin
author_facet Sekou Franklin
author_sort Sekou Franklin
collection DOAJ
description Racial authoritarian preemption occurs when state governments overturn, override, and alter the governing power of racially diverse municipalities. Using Tennessee as a case study, this article looks at the convergence of race, authoritarian governance, and state preemption. Three components of racial authoritarian preemption are examined: anti-federal nullification, administrative fiefdoms, and municipal containment. I focus on the period of 2010–2024, when the Tennessee legislature was captured by conservative Republicans, who then used preemption to revoke locally based civil rights, racial equity initiatives, and redistributive measures championed by minoritized communities. In examining preemption, this article draws from primary and secondary sources, including legislative records and the General Social Survey administered by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. The article demonstrates that preemption has been weaponized in the twenty-first century to augment the power of far-right state officials and to disempower cities and municipalities that are racially diverse or dominated by Black-led and multi-racial governing institutions.
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spelling doaj-art-37cee9a1962b42aa94023ee4201a30542025-01-24T13:49:38ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602024-12-01141310.3390/socsci14010003Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of TennesseeSekou Franklin0Department of Political and Global Affairs, Middle Tennessee State University, 1301 East Main Street, P.O. Box 29, Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USARacial authoritarian preemption occurs when state governments overturn, override, and alter the governing power of racially diverse municipalities. Using Tennessee as a case study, this article looks at the convergence of race, authoritarian governance, and state preemption. Three components of racial authoritarian preemption are examined: anti-federal nullification, administrative fiefdoms, and municipal containment. I focus on the period of 2010–2024, when the Tennessee legislature was captured by conservative Republicans, who then used preemption to revoke locally based civil rights, racial equity initiatives, and redistributive measures championed by minoritized communities. In examining preemption, this article draws from primary and secondary sources, including legislative records and the General Social Survey administered by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center. The article demonstrates that preemption has been weaponized in the twenty-first century to augment the power of far-right state officials and to disempower cities and municipalities that are racially diverse or dominated by Black-led and multi-racial governing institutions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/1/3TennesseeauthoritarianpreemptionmunicipalitiesstatesBlacks
spellingShingle Sekou Franklin
Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
Social Sciences
Tennessee
authoritarian
preemption
municipalities
states
Blacks
title Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
title_full Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
title_fullStr Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
title_full_unstemmed Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
title_short Racial Authoritarian Preemption and the Politics of Tennessee
title_sort racial authoritarian preemption and the politics of tennessee
topic Tennessee
authoritarian
preemption
municipalities
states
Blacks
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/1/3
work_keys_str_mv AT sekoufranklin racialauthoritarianpreemptionandthepoliticsoftennessee