The Tennessee Republican Party on Tuesday approved a new congressional map that redraws a Memphis-area district long represented by a Black Democrat, following a recent Supreme Court ruling that critics say weakens a key protection in the Voting Rights Act.

The move, which sparked fierce protests at the Statehouse, is likely to flip the district held by Democrats in the November midterm elections and further solidify Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The new district map divides Shelby County, which includes Memphis — a majority-Black city that played a key role in the civil rights movement — into three GOP-leaning districts.

The redistricting plan could unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, who has represented Memphis since 2007. Republicans already control the state’s other eight congressional districts.

Democrats have accused the Republican-led effort of racial gerrymandering.

State Rep. Justin Jones, a Black Democrat, called the map “an act of terror from the Jim Crow era,” comparing it to the discriminatory election laws that disenfranchised Black southerners before the 1960s.

Republicans defended the map, arguing it was drawn solely on partisan considerations, not racial ones.

State Rep. Jason Zachary, a Republican, said, “This gives us the opportunity to send an all-Republican delegation to Washington D.C. for the first time in history to represent conservative values.”

During the vote in the House chamber, protesters could be seen being led away from the balcony, yelling and shouting, while outside the chamber, demonstrators sounded air horns and chanted angry slogans.

The battle for congressional seats between Republicans and Democrats is rapidly unfolding.

In Alabama, Republicans asked the Supreme Court to allow them to use a congressional map with just one Black voter in a district, overturning a court order that had required the creation of a second majority-Black district in 2023.

Republican lawmakers have passed legislation that would allow them to postpone the May 19 U.S. House primary election if the Supreme Court sides with them this week.

In Louisiana, lawmakers postponed the U.S. House primary election scheduled for May 16, buying time to redraw congressional districts, even though tens of thousands of voters had already cast absentee ballots.

In South Carolina, Republican lawmakers are pushing legislation that would allow them to advance a new map that could eliminate a Black-majority district held by U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a civil rights icon and powerful Democrat.

Lawsuits over redistricting are currently underway in Virginia, Florida and Missouri.

In Missouri, where Republicans currently hold a 6-2 advantage, if the state Supreme Court rules that the district map is the result of racial gerrymandering, legislative leaders are expected to push for a map that splits the current district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (5th District), creating seven Republican seats and one Democratic seat.

The Missouri Supreme Court is scheduled to hear final arguments on the matter on May 12.

By Hong Seong-gu, Chief Reporter of NNP / Special Contribution to this newspaper NNP info@newsandpost.com