Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Local Fox station under fire for ‘unreal’ on-air graphic on slavery ban

Social media users were gobsmacked at the jarring Fox post: “I cannot with this graphic”

Bevan Hurley
Wednesday 09 November 2022 14:17 GMT
Comments
Midterms 2022: What's happened in the Senate?

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A local Fox channel in Tennessee has copped criticism for an on-air graphic that declared the state had voted to ban slavery.

“You decide: Slavery banned,” wrote Fox 13 Memphis on Twitter just after the race was called just after midnight on election night.

The jarring wording of the Fox graphic angered and surprised some Twitter users.

“I cannot with this graphic,” wrote Washington Post race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton.

“Trust me, staring at that amendment when I went to vote today was surreal af,” another wrote in reply.

Others were stunned that slavery was still legal as a form of capitol punishment in the state.

“Good but unreal that it was still on the books!”

“I don’t know. Am I happy or horrified to live here?”

Tennessee was one of four states voting on amendments to ban forced prison labour. Alabama and Vermont also voted to outlaw the practice, while in Oregon it remained too close to call.

With 65 per cent of the vote counted, 79.7 per cent supported the Amendment 3 that removes language allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment for those convicted of crimes in Tennessee.

Organisers of the “Yes on 3” campaign celebrated the overwhelming victory in a statement on Tuesday night.

“For the first time since 1870, our constitution will no longer protect the institution of slavery,” the group said. “A bipartisan effort years in the making, we could not be more proud of the citizens of Tennessee for agreeing that slavery has no place in our state.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in