The article discusses how the new redistricting maps passed by the legislature in the South have created hyper-partisan and blatantly racist gerrymanders, particularly in Memphis, which will have devastating effects on the city's Black population. It also highlights the struggles of the city against AI data centers, particularly the Colossus facility owned by Elon Musk.
GOP Gerrymanders Make the South’s Black Communities More Vulnerable To Data Centers The South’s Black communities are being disenfranchised by their state legislators and poisoned by AI data centers—a lethal combination that strips them of their political voice, while subjecting them to a slow death.legislature passed new redistricting maps that dismantled the Memphis -based 9th District and split the city’s 63% Black population across This hyper-partisan and blatantly racist gerrymander will have devastating effects for Memphians.
Here, I’ll focus on one: the city’s struggles against AI data centers.
“Colossus” facilities. The Elon Musk-owned company brags that Colossus 1 is “the world’s biggest AI supercomputer. ” It is the power source behind X-Twitter’s Grok, the—a neighborhood in South Memphis founded by formerly enslaved Black people in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Today, 95% of its residents are Black, the median income is less than $37,000, and theThat is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle.rates are four times higher than the national advantage. Shelby county, which includes Boxtown, has an “F” rating in air quality for ground-level ozone from thegas turbines to power the data center.
This is “far more than previously known and more than the company has submitted permit applications for. ” These turbines emit enormous quantities of smog-forming pollutants, soot, nitrogen oxides , and formaldehyde, which are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, health problems, and various kinds of cancer.advocates for returning “to producing and exporting American oil and natural gas, restoring the drilling and pipeline developments that Biden blocked, and pursuing rational, common sense energy policies.
”remarks, “If a major data center is attacked, disrupted, or taken offline, the consequences can reach far beyond one company or one sector. ” In a hearing on advanced technologies and cybersecurity,notes that AI is “now woven into how Federal, State, and local governments operate, how intelligence is collected and analyzed, how criticalfunctions, and how American companies compete in a global economy.
” He continues, protecting these technologies and crucial infrastructure is vital for ensuring America’s “prosperity for years to come” and “our role as the, quite frankly, sole superpower. ” Ogles’s anti-environmentalist, pro-AI politics does not represent the interests and desires of the people of Boxtown. Yet, unfortunately, he is the representative thatLike Boxtown, Whitehaven is in Shelby County.
However, under the new gerrymandered map, it is part of the state’sTennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor praises xAI as “a great asset for Memphis. ” When asked about the environmental concerns raised by residents, he responded: Tthose “environmental concerns predate xAI’s arrival in Memphis and the efforts to address them thus far seem to be misguided.
” He explains: “The way I would address the concerns is not to attempt to close xAI or browbeat them to leave Memphis, but I would engage with them and local government to enter into conversations about potential buyout of nearby homes… This would seem to be a much more constructive way to address the environmental concerns of the neighbors. ” He praises how “xAI has worked to overcome every environmental concern raised.
” This includes using “water that has been trucked in” to cool its systems , and “purchasing a decommissioned energy plant in nearby Mississippi to generate a portion of their own energy. ”If Taylor replaces Cohen, it is clear he would put xAI over Memphians. Given that the new 9th District spansfrom southern Memphis to the suburbs of Nashville, their diluted votes would be easy to ignore.
That is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle. Importantly, Boxtown and Whitehaven—communities that are less than six miles apart—are now burdened with having to secure two congressional seats to have their voices and interests represented.. Like Memphis, Black and poor communities in those states are also under threat by AI data centers.
This includes: the recently green-litThe South’s Black communities are being disenfranchised by their state legislators and poisoned by AI data centers—a lethal combination that strips them of their political voice, while subjecting them to a slow death. In both instances, their rights, health, and livelihoods are jeopardized by bad faith appeals to “progress.
” On the one hand, thejustifies dismantling the Voting Right Act because of the “great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination” across the US and “particularly in the South. ” Here, decades of hard-won social progress become the pretext for erasing the Black vote.touts that, as AI and robotics develop, “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.
” Here, the promise of progress and a richer, healthier future becomes the pretext for callously exposing the most vulnerable communities to the most harmful toxins. The path forward will be difficult, but two things are clear: We must put an end to these partisan and racist gerrymanderings. We must put aon AI data centers.
Just as we cannot allow elected officials to steal our votes, we cannot permit a handful of tech companies to sacrifice our bodies for their profits. Now is the time to fight back—to defend the progress that we have made as a nation; to defend the vulnerable and give voice to those who are being silenced; and to bring about the future that we desire for ourselves.put it: “If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again.
If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate andIt’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project.
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Jordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University. He specializes in issues of race, immigration and the politics of belonging.legislature passed new redistricting maps that dismantled the Memphis-based 9th District and split the city’s 63% Black population across This hyper-partisan and blatantly racist gerrymander will have devastating effects for Memphians. Here, I’ll focus on one: the city’s struggles against AI data centers.
“Colossus” facilities. The Elon Musk-owned company brags that Colossus 1 is “the world’s biggest AI supercomputer. ” It is the power source behind X-Twitter’s Grok, the—a neighborhood in South Memphis founded by formerly enslaved Black people in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Today, 95% of its residents are Black, the median income is less than $37,000, and theThat is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle.rates are four times higher than the national advantage. Shelby county, which includes Boxtown, has an “F” rating in air quality for ground-level ozone from thegas turbines to power the data center.
This is “far more than previously known and more than the company has submitted permit applications for. ” These turbines emit enormous quantities of smog-forming pollutants, soot, nitrogen oxides , and formaldehyde, which are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, health problems, and various kinds of cancer.advocates for returning “to producing and exporting American oil and natural gas, restoring the drilling and pipeline developments that Biden blocked, and pursuing rational, common sense energy policies.
”remarks, “If a major data center is attacked, disrupted, or taken offline, the consequences can reach far beyond one company or one sector. ” In a hearing on advanced technologies and cybersecurity,notes that AI is “now woven into how Federal, State, and local governments operate, how intelligence is collected and analyzed, how criticalfunctions, and how American companies compete in a global economy.
” He continues, protecting these technologies and crucial infrastructure is vital for ensuring America’s “prosperity for years to come” and “our role as the, quite frankly, sole superpower. ” Ogles’s anti-environmentalist, pro-AI politics does not represent the interests and desires of the people of Boxtown. Yet, unfortunately, he is the representative thatLike Boxtown, Whitehaven is in Shelby County.
However, under the new gerrymandered map, it is part of the state’sTennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor praises xAI as “a great asset for Memphis. ” When asked about the environmental concerns raised by residents, he responded: Tthose “environmental concerns predate xAI’s arrival in Memphis and the efforts to address them thus far seem to be misguided.
” He explains: “The way I would address the concerns is not to attempt to close xAI or browbeat them to leave Memphis, but I would engage with them and local government to enter into conversations about potential buyout of nearby homes… This would seem to be a much more constructive way to address the environmental concerns of the neighbors. ” He praises how “xAI has worked to overcome every environmental concern raised.
” This includes using “water that has been trucked in” to cool its systems , and “purchasing a decommissioned energy plant in nearby Mississippi to generate a portion of their own energy. ”If Taylor replaces Cohen, it is clear he would put xAI over Memphians. Given that the new 9th District spansfrom southern Memphis to the suburbs of Nashville, their diluted votes would be easy to ignore.
That is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle. Importantly, Boxtown and Whitehaven—communities that are less than six miles apart—are now burdened with having to secure two congressional seats to have their voices and interests represented.. Like Memphis, Black and poor communities in those states are also under threat by AI data centers.
This includes: the recently green-litThe South’s Black communities are being disenfranchised by their state legislators and poisoned by AI data centers—a lethal combination that strips them of their political voice, while subjecting them to a slow death. In both instances, their rights, health, and livelihoods are jeopardized by bad faith appeals to “progress.
” On the one hand, thejustifies dismantling the Voting Right Act because of the “great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination” across the US and “particularly in the South. ” Here, decades of hard-won social progress become the pretext for erasing the Black vote.touts that, as AI and robotics develop, “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.
” Here, the promise of progress and a richer, healthier future becomes the pretext for callously exposing the most vulnerable communities to the most harmful toxins. The path forward will be difficult, but two things are clear: We must put an end to these partisan and racist gerrymanderings. We must put aon AI data centers.
Just as we cannot allow elected officials to steal our votes, we cannot permit a handful of tech companies to sacrifice our bodies for their profits. Now is the time to fight back—to defend the progress that we have made as a nation; to defend the vulnerable and give voice to those who are being silenced; and to bring about the future that we desire for ourselves.put it: “If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again.
If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate andJordan Liz is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at San José State University.
He specializes in issues of race, immigration and the politics of belonging.legislature passed new redistricting maps that dismantled the Memphis-based 9th District and split the city’s 63% Black population across This hyper-partisan and blatantly racist gerrymander will have devastating effects for Memphians. Here, I’ll focus on one: the city’s struggles against AI data centers.
“Colossus” facilities. The Elon Musk-owned company brags that Colossus 1 is “the world’s biggest AI supercomputer. ” It is the power source behind X-Twitter’s Grok, the—a neighborhood in South Memphis founded by formerly enslaved Black people in the aftermath of the Civil War.
Today, 95% of its residents are Black, the median income is less than $37,000, and theThat is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle.rates are four times higher than the national advantage. Shelby county, which includes Boxtown, has an “F” rating in air quality for ground-level ozone from thegas turbines to power the data center.
This is “far more than previously known and more than the company has submitted permit applications for. ” These turbines emit enormous quantities of smog-forming pollutants, soot, nitrogen oxides , and formaldehyde, which are tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, health problems, and various kinds of cancer.advocates for returning “to producing and exporting American oil and natural gas, restoring the drilling and pipeline developments that Biden blocked, and pursuing rational, common sense energy policies.
”remarks, “If a major data center is attacked, disrupted, or taken offline, the consequences can reach far beyond one company or one sector. ” In a hearing on advanced technologies and cybersecurity,notes that AI is “now woven into how Federal, State, and local governments operate, how intelligence is collected and analyzed, how criticalfunctions, and how American companies compete in a global economy.
” He continues, protecting these technologies and crucial infrastructure is vital for ensuring America’s “prosperity for years to come” and “our role as the, quite frankly, sole superpower. ” Ogles’s anti-environmentalist, pro-AI politics does not represent the interests and desires of the people of Boxtown. Yet, unfortunately, he is the representative thatLike Boxtown, Whitehaven is in Shelby County.
However, under the new gerrymandered map, it is part of the state’sTennessee state Sen. Brent Taylor praises xAI as “a great asset for Memphis. ” When asked about the environmental concerns raised by residents, he responded: Tthose “environmental concerns predate xAI’s arrival in Memphis and the efforts to address them thus far seem to be misguided.
” He explains: “The way I would address the concerns is not to attempt to close xAI or browbeat them to leave Memphis, but I would engage with them and local government to enter into conversations about potential buyout of nearby homes… This would seem to be a much more constructive way to address the environmental concerns of the neighbors. ” He praises how “xAI has worked to overcome every environmental concern raised.
” This includes using “water that has been trucked in” to cool its systems , and “purchasing a decommissioned energy plant in nearby Mississippi to generate a portion of their own energy. ”If Taylor replaces Cohen, it is clear he would put xAI over Memphians. Given that the new 9th District spansfrom southern Memphis to the suburbs of Nashville, their diluted votes would be easy to ignore.
That is, of course, the entire point of this gerrymander: to render Memphis’ Black vote politically irrelevant; to undermine the power of Black communities to band together to fight against a common struggle. Importantly, Boxtown and Whitehaven—communities that are less than six miles apart—are now burdened with having to secure two congressional seats to have their voices and interests represented.. Like Memphis, Black and poor communities in those states are also under threat by AI data centers.
This includes: the recently green-litThe South’s Black communities are being disenfranchised by their state legislators and poisoned by AI data centers—a lethal combination that strips them of their political voice, while subjecting them to a slow death. In both instances, their rights, health, and livelihoods are jeopardized by bad faith appeals to “progress.
” On the one hand, thejustifies dismantling the Voting Right Act because of the “great strides in ending entrenched racial discrimination” across the US and “particularly in the South. ” Here, decades of hard-won social progress become the pretext for erasing the Black vote.touts that, as AI and robotics develop, “Everyone will have access to medical care that is better than what the president receives right now.
” Here, the promise of progress and a richer, healthier future becomes the pretext for callously exposing the most vulnerable communities to the most harmful toxins. The path forward will be difficult, but two things are clear: We must put an end to these partisan and racist gerrymanderings. We must put aon AI data centers.
Just as we cannot allow elected officials to steal our votes, we cannot permit a handful of tech companies to sacrifice our bodies for their profits. Now is the time to fight back—to defend the progress that we have made as a nation; to defend the vulnerable and give voice to those who are being silenced; and to bring about the future that we desire for ourselves.put it: “If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again.
If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate andThe 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different.
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GOP Gerrymanders AI Data Centers Colossus Facility Memphis Black Communities AI Supercomputer AI Technologies Cybersecurity Energy Policies Advanced Technologies Voting Rights Environmental Concerns Buyout Of Nearby Homes Green-Lit Data Centers AI Technologies And Cybersecurity American Oil And Natural Gas Restoring Drilling And Pipeline Developments Rational Common Sense Energy Policies Prosperity Sole Superpower Voting Rights Act Entrenched Racial Discrimination Great Strides In Ending Racial Discrimination Particularly In The South Bad Faith Appeals To Progress
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