The move by Republicans in Tennessee to expel two Black Democrats from the state Legislature for protesting gun violence on the House floor was stunning to many observers.
I think “ReidOut” frequent guest Elie Mystal framed the sentiment best in this tweet.
It is rare, RARE, that you will see racism so surprising that it even catches *black* folks off guard. But, literally nobody I talked to, even as recently as a few hours go, thought Tennessee would have the unmitigated gall to expel the two black guys and not the white woman.
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 7, 2023
As Mystal describes, Tennessee Republicans expelled two Black House members, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, on Thursday, while a vote to expel a white House member who protested alongside them, Gloria Johnson, failed.
In remarks after the voting, Johnson spoke about the obvious double standard.
Rep. Gloria Johnson on why she survived while two of her colleagues were expelled from the Tennessee House: "Well, I think it's pretty clear. I'm a 60-year-old white woman and they are two young Black men." pic.twitter.com/6dNbW9dOHz
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 7, 2023
The racism here seems quite clear, even if we just use this week’s events as evidence.
But we don’t have to do that. There’s a broader pool of evidence indicating this is a racist power grab meant to suppress a multiracial, multigenerational Democratic movement that’s burgeoning in Tennessee. (As I’ve written previously, conservatives are attempting these power grabs more frequently these days.)
Jones was a well-known activist for years before becoming a Tennessee lawmaker, and he helped lead the successful push to remove a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slaveholder who served as a Confederate general, from the state Capitol grounds. During a speech on the House floor Thursday before his ouster, Jones said his outspokenness on social justice issues had made him an “uppity Negro” in the eyes of a colleague.
Former #Tennessee St. Rep. @brotherjones_ on being expelled by Republican lawmakers after supporting a student gun control protest:
— The ReidOut (@thereidout) April 7, 2023
"Basically I had a member on the floor call me an uppity negro. This is the behavior of our body."
WATCH MORE: https://t.co/ZiH6qPdA0P pic.twitter.com/H2HF2koNhG
Pearson, the other expelled lawmaker, recently received backlash from Tennessee Republicans for wearing a dashiki — traditional garb in many African countries — on the House floor. Foreshadowing this week’s events, the House GOP tweeted that Pearson should maybe consider not being a lawmaker.
Referencing the bipartisan and unanimously approved rules for House decorum and dress attire is far from a racist attack.
— TN House Republicans (@tnhousegop) February 9, 2023
If you don’t like rules, perhaps you should explore a different career opportunity that’s main purpose is not creating them. https://t.co/UdPkk8WLCS
That incident matches claims from state Sen. London Lamar, who told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday that Tennessee Republicans had punished her as well for wearing pro-Black clothing and speaking out against racism.
“They are pretty weak when it comes to their egos,” Lamar said.
That gives you a sense of the white paternalism gripping the Tennessee General Assembly, where conservatives have gerrymandered themselves into a supermajority. Here’s a GIF that perfectly illustrates the modern Tennessee Republican Party:
Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, recently signed a law that will cut the size of Nashville’s city council in half, from 40 members to just 20. This comes after the council’s decision not to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
State Sen. Charlane Oliver, a Democrat from Nashville, told CBS News in March that the council reduction will “set us back decades.” She said it will “disproportionately impact the Black representation [and] minority representation” and will “steal and silence our voices.”
State Sen. Adam Lowe, a Republican, had a different response.
“Conventional wisdom for the past four decades has been that smaller group sizes tend to make better decisions, and this is the largest council that we see,” Lowe said. He added: “There’s a reason why we’re judged by 12 of our peers in a jury and there’s a reason, I think, why Christ walked with 12 of his disciples.”
It’s an excellent summary of the worldview of too many American conservatives: Racist oppression … in Jesus’ name.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.