Officials of the Tennessee NAACP said they are calling "for an end to racism and intolerance in Tennessee’s Higher Education institutions."
The state NAACP said, "As the state’s oldest and largest civil rights organization, the Tennessee State Conference NAACP is deeply concerned about the recent legislative actions of the Tennessee General Assembly and the racially-toxic dialogue at University of Tennessee (UT) and Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions. On March 2nd, the Senate Education Committee voted to defund the University of Tennessee’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Sponsored by Senator Todd Gardenhire (and strongly backed by Senator Dolores Gresham), SB 1912 intended to weaken diversity-based programs at higher education institutions in Tennessee. Though Senator Gardenhire withdrew the proposal on March 23rd, the dialogue undergirding the bill was especially discouraging to women, racial, sexual, and religious minority students.
"The Tennessee Heritage Protection Act (HPA) sponsored by Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro is another measure that promotes racial intolerance in the state. The revised measure (the initially law was adopted in 2013) provides additional protections to confederate iconography in the state. The new measure is designed to protect the name of the ROTC Building at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), Ketron’s alumni institution, which is named after confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest. As has been widely reported, Forrest slaughtered hundreds of surrendering black soldiers at Fort Pillow during the Civil War; he was the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, the most notorious, racial terrorism group in the history of the United States; and ran a neoslavery convict-lease program. Ketron advanced this measure to undercut student and community opposition (including members of the Rutherford County and MTSU NAACP chapters) to the Forrest Hall name. His sponsorship of HPA also attempted to influence the MTSU Forrest Hall Task Force, for which he is a member, from voting for a name change to the building.
"The Tennessee NAACP is also concerned that Governor Bill Haslam’s Focus on College and University Success (FOCUS) Act could harm Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s largest and only public historically black college or university. As it is currently constructed, the law decentralizes decision-making authority to local governing boards. These boards would be chosen by state officials, or in the case of TSU, by personnel who are unaffiliated or may be hostile to the university. This governance structure will undermine TSU’s autonomy, endanger its economic stability, and could radically alter TBR’s academic and tenure evaluation processes. Our greatest concern is that the FOCUS Act will allow the UT system, which will not undergo a restructuring process (the FOCUS Act only applies to TBR universities), to increase its footprint in Nashville even as it harms TSU. Because this issue has been litigated in the courts for three decades, there are some concerns that the proposal will give UT an entry point into Nashville’s higher- education marketplace and allow it to wrest control of TSU’s proprietary rights in the region.
"The collective impact of these measures (SB 1912, HPA, FOCUS) could resurrect a cultural of intolerance and racial inferiority in Tennessee’s higher education systems. They may further undermine Governor Haslam’s Drive to 55 by 25 initiative to credential 55 percent of Tennessee’s adult population with higher education degrees and certificates by 2025. A significant segment of this population is comprised of African- American students, student athletes, and adults who may be discouraged from applying to UT and TBR institutions with the enactment of these measures.
"Finally, it is important to offer some recommendations for improving diversity, racial tolerance, and local autonomy at UT and TBR institutions. First, we urge Governor Haslam to publicly commit to increasing staff and funds for the diversity offices and programs at all UT and TBR institutions. Second, we urge the Forrest Hall Task Force and Tennessee Historical Commission to vote for the immediate removal of Forrest’s name from MTSU’s ROTC Building. Governor Haslam and Dr. Sidney McPhee, President of MTSU, should also voice public opposition to the Forrest Hall name and other confederate iconography. Third, we believe that the FOCUS Act should be amended to give TSU autonomy over the selection of its governing board with direct input from the Tennessee Black Caucus of Legislators, the Minority Caucus of the Metro Nashville Council, and TSU’s president and legislative counsel.
"Since the founding of the Tennessee NAACP in 1946, our organization has been on the front lines of civil rights. From the Sweatt v. Painter to the Brown v. Board of Education cases, our group has advocated for quality education for all racial/ethnic groups at the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels. We believe that Governor’s Drive to 55 by 25 initiative can boost the pool of African Americans in higher education and increase diversity in Tennessee’s workforce. Yet to accomplish these goals, Tennessee must be diligent in its commitment to fighting against racism and intolerance in its higher education system and reduce barriers to education access and funding for African Americans and other underrepresented populations."