Steve Cohen Fights to Represent Black Memphis

For over thirty years a father and his son represented the Ninth Congressional District of the State of Tennessee. Harold Ford and Harold Ford, Jr. both blazed an undeniable trail as U.S. Representatives. However, when Harold Ford Jr. decided to throw his hat into the ring as a US Senate candidate the voters of the district decided that a familiar white man was able to represent them and so they elected Steve Cohen to the post. Boy how times change.

If you attended a meeting of black Baptist pastors you would have heard some things that would have made even Judas seem saintly. Filled with age old racism and a firm grip on the civil rights movement, a large contingent of black pastors told US Representative Steve Cohen that he was unable to represent them because he was a white man in a predominantly black district and he could never be able to understand the plight of minorities in Memphis. Even if the beliefs were held, it was hard for most to imagine the venom with which the statements were made.

Add to that meeting the campaign of Nikki Tinker, a lawyer for Pinnacle Airlines who is being funded by some of the same pastors and you see a political campaign as divisive as Memphis has seen since it elected its first African-American mayor, Willie Herenton in 1991. In Tinker, not a lot is known. Hailing from Gadsden, AL. Nikki Tinker had been a campaign strategist for Harold Ford, Jr. But from a political perspective not much else is known of the corporate attorney and Vice President of Labor Relations for Pinnacle Airlines.

With Cohen, people living in the Ninth Congressional District got a man with over twenty years of legislative service in the Tennessee General Assembly. His tireless work ethic and passionate leadership made him a champion for everyone he represented. You will be hard pressed to find a Memphian who has anything negative to say about Congressman Cohen. So if the worst thing someone can say about him is that he is white what does that say about us?

Since Cohen took office he has gotten legislation passed to rename the Federal Building in downtown Memphis after an African-American man. He has gotten the US Post Office to rename its Memphis facility after an African-American man. I was in attendance when he helped bring Major League Baseball to Memphis with the Civil Rights Game to kick off the season in April. Additionally, he helped to get Stax Records, a Memphis institution, recognition that matched its influence in the 70s as a peer of Motown.

Steve Cohen is the first Jewish congressman in Tennessee ever. And he is the first white man to hold office for the Ninth District since the early 1960s. Cohen served in the Tennessee General Assembly for 24 years before winning the election that took him from Nashville to Washington DC. Despite his established political prowess and high regard and respect by his peers, Cohen faces an uphill battle to win reelection. In the 2006 campaign he was outspent 2 to 1 by Nikki Tinker. In fact, six Democrats raised more money than Cohen. And he still won.

But in the 9^th Congressional District where it is just as important to be black as it is to be educated one has to wonder whether Steve Cohen will be a one hit wonder and make it back to Washington DC to follow through on his legislation to get a presidential apology for slavery and his brief attempt to join the Congressional Black Caucus. If nothing else, you have to give the guy credit for being either crazy or crafty. Anyone willing to try the latter has to be applauded and then restrained.

The election is a year away but by the look and feel of the temperature of politics in Memphis, the election could be tomorrow. Cohen's ability to secure a percentage of the black vote will be the one requirement for him to be reelected. Otherwise, there will be a woman tinkering in Washington DC on behalf of the 9^th Congressional District and some are not even sure that she is a Democrat.

Go figure!