For Black Women in Political Office, Speaking Out Can Come at a Cost

Brandon tensley and Alecia Taylor, Capital B

From Ilhan Omar to Charlane Oliver, Black women in elected positions are confronting political backlash for challenging those in power.

The Tennessee Senate, controlled by Republicans, was gearing up to vote on a congressional map that would divide majority-Black Memphis among three districts — not unlike what had happened to Oliver’s district in 2022. Oliver, a Nashville Democrat who is up for reelection in November, had spent months pushing back against the plan. That day in May, she reached down to push the voting button. But nothing happened, she said, even when she pressed it again. But by then, the vote was over.

My constituents feel like their vote did not count that day,” Oliver said. “How ironic it is that we were voting on a map to dilute the voting power of Black constituents, Black Tennesseans in Memphis, and then this one Black legislator, you don’t count their vote.”

Oliver and Omar are far from the only Black women in elected office who have had to navigate what they say is retaliation for seeking to hold power to account. From investigations to criminal charges, Black women in these roles have faced an array of attacks. Such experiences have raised questions about the treatment of Black women in elected office, as well as the potential ramifications for the communities that depend on them.

Read more about how black women in political office often face retaliation.

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