‘The Tennessee Three’ Give Rise To The Next Civil Rights Movement: Children Should Be Able To Grow Up Free From Gun Violence

by

Tennessee is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and its domestic terrorism campaign to suppress the rights of the newly freed slaves during Reconstruction. It continued through a hundred years of state-sponsored racial apartheid under Jim Crow segregation laws. Gun violence has always been inextricably intertwined with the maintenance of white supremacy.

MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell provides the historical context for the outrageous conduct which occurred in the Tennessee state legislature last night.

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NBC News reports, Tennessee GOP expels 2 Black Democratic lawmakers for anti-gun violence protests. A white legislator survived her vote.

Republican legislators in Tennessee voted Thursday to expel two Black male Democrats from the state House over their protests on the chamber floor against gun violence last week, while a vote to expel a third, white female Democratic representative fell short.

In the first vote, Republicans expelled Rep. Justin Jones. The second vote, to kick out Rep. Gloria Johnson, failed. Republicans then voted to remove Rep. Justin Pearson.

Jones and Pearson are Black. Johnson is white.

Cheers erupted in the chamber with chants of “Gloria!” after her tally was announced, later followed by “Shame on you!” after Pearson was removed.

The House voted 72-25 along party lines to expel Jones. The effort to remove Johnson fell short of the two-thirds majority of all 100 members needed. That vote was 65-30. Pearson was removed in a 69-26 vote.

The resolutions accused each of the Democratic legislators of engaging in “disorderly behavior” and purposely bringing “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives” during protests against gun violence on the House floor last week.

See, Bond v. Floyd (1966).

The unprecedented votes drew attention to the partisan divisions that have rankled the Tennessee General Assembly in recent months.

Chants from protesters — many of whom bore signs defending the “Tennessee three” — were audible throughout the entire legislative session Thursday. Organizers said hundreds were present.

Over the cacophony of protesters outside the House, Republican legislators began expulsion proceedings Thursday afternoon against the three Democrats.

At the outset of the proceedings, House Republicans moved to play a heavily edited video showing some of the events of last week’s protests — despite Democratic objections.

That led quickly to the votes to expel. In a process that closely resembles a trial, the House allows all members to defend themselves with a 20-minute speech. House members then debate the resolution, and then each member is allowed to answer questions about the accusations from legislators.

“What is happening here today is a situation in which the jury has already publicly announced the verdict,” Jones said in a floor speech. “A lynch mob assembled to not lynch me but our democratic process.”

Jones said his participation in the protests amounted to his “standing for those young people … many of whom can’t even vote yet but all of whom are terrified by the continued trend of mass shootings plaguing our state and plaguing this nation.”

In an MSNBC interview after his expulsion, Jones said the House was setting a “dangerous” precedent.

“What the nation is seeing is that we don’t have democracy in Tennessee — and that if we don’t act we have some very dark days ahead. And so we have to respond to this with mass movements, nonviolent movements,” he said.

“To expel voices of opposition and dissent is a signal of authoritarianism,” he added, suggesting that Tennessee’s action should “sound the alarm across the nation that we are entering into very dangerous territory.”

[As] members Thursday debated the resolution to remove Johnson, she said she participated in the protest because she felt she had to “raise the voice of the people in my district,” adding, “I did what I felt those folks wanted me to do.”

“I did it for the kids in my district, for the kids in my state, for the kids in this community,” she said.

“My friends in school all called me Little Miss Law and Order because I’m a rule follower. And I know that rules sometimes have to be broken, and sometimes you have to get in good trouble,” she added.

She also said the resolution’s charge that she “began shouting without recognition” was false, insisting that while she did protest in the part of the chamber known as the well, she didn’t yell.

Seven Republicans voted against the motion to expel Johnson, three opposed Pearson’s expulsion resolution, and only one voted against Jones’.

Addressing her supporters after the vote, Johnson said, “America should be worried,” adding, according to The Tennesseannewspaper of Nashville, that the failed vote to expel her “might have to do with the color of my skin.”

Rep. Justin Pearson’s speech was even more eloquent.

Pearson alluded to race when he referred to Lois DeBerry, the second Black woman elected to the Tennessee General Assembly, who later served as speaker pro tempore.

He suggested that DeBerry, first elected in 1972, was guided by strict rules of decorum and presentation because “Black folk wouldn’t get respected otherwise, because white folks wouldn’t respect them, they’d call them ‘boy,’ they’d call them ‘girl’ instead of ‘chairperson’ or ‘speaker pro tem.’”

GOP Rep. Andrew Farmer, who sponsored the resolution to expel Pearson, described the trio’s March 30 protest on the House floor as a “temper tantrum.”

“Just because you don’t get your way doesn’t mean you can come to the well with your friends,” he said Thursday.

Pearson responded by saying: “He called a peaceful protest a temper tantrum. It isn’t a temper tantrum to say kids should go to schools that are actually safe.”

[T]he proceedings prompted criticism from Democrats across the country, including the White House. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dubbed the scheduled expulsion votes as “legislative bullying.”

“The fact that this vote is happening is shocking, undemocratic and without precedent,” she said at Thursday’s White House briefing.

President Joe Biden chastised Republican legislators over their votes Thursday night.

“Last week, three more students and three school officials were gunned down in yet another tragic mass shooting in Nashville. On Monday, 7,000 Tennesseans, many of them students, marched to their state capitol to call on their lawmakers to take action and keep them safe,” Biden said in a statement.

“Instead, state Republican lawmakers called votes today to expel three Democratic legislators who stood in solidarity with students and families and helped lift their voices. Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent. Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.”

Former President Barack Obama also commented, tweeting that the nation was built on peaceful protest.

“No elected official should lose their job simply for raising their voice — especially when they’re doing it on behalf of our children,” Obama wrote.

He called Thursday’s proceedings the “latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms.”

“Silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won’t lead to progress,” he added.

Former vice president and former senator from Tennessee Al Gore tweeted:

[In] a sharply worded statement, the Congressional Black Caucus said Thursday’s votes made it “clear that racism is alive and well in Tennessee.”

“The GOP-led House chose to silence dissent from not only the Black representatives in the chamber, but the voices of their constituents as well,” the CBC said. “This move is not only racist and anti-democratic, it is morally-bankrupt and out of step with the overwhelming majority of Americans who believe that we need common sense gun control reforms to save lives.”

At a news conference after the votes, all three Tennessee Democrats appeared defiant. Johnson promised to help her two now-former colleagues get back to the legislature, and Pearson led the crowd in a chant: “We will never quit.”

In an MSNBC interview before his expulsion vote, Pearson said: “We are losing our democracy. This is not normal. This is not OK.”

“We broke a House rule because we were fighting for kids who are dying from gun violence and people in our communities who want to see an end to the proliferation of weaponry,” Pearson said.

“No one should be wanting to operate as though this is not happening, as though we are not living in a gun violence epidemic in the state of Tennessee,” he added.

The MAGA Fascist move to expel these members and disenfranchise the voters of their districts who elected them will be short-lived.  It is an exercise in futility. They can be appointed by their local communities to serve until a special election, and they will win their special election.

Jones and Pearson will be able to run in special elections for the seats they were booted from.

Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has 30 days to set a date for the special elections. In the meantime, interim representatives selected by county commissions in counties where the seats are located will fill in.

Johnson’s district includes parts of Knoxville, Jones’ includes parts of Nashville, and Pearson’s includes parts of Memphis.

The Tennessee House last voted to expel a sitting member in 2016, when members voted 70-2 to throw out Rep. Jeremy Durham over sexual misconduct allegations.

According to The Tennessean, House members had previously voted to expel a member in 1980 — but they hadn’t done so since the Civil War. The Tennessee Senate voted last year to expel a sitting member for the first time — Katrina Robinson — after she was convicted of federal wire fraud charges.

But unlike in those instances, Johnson, Jones and Pearson faced no criminal or civil charges or any investigations.

More than 250 Democratic state legislators across the U.S. signed on to a letter organized by the State Innovation Exchange, a progressive legislation advocacy group, that accused Tennessee Republicans of racist motives.

“The attempts to expel Reps. Jones, Johnson, and Pearson show a dark truth in the light of day: there’s a robust and racist connection between fighting against gun safety and dismantling our democracy,” the letter says.





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11 thoughts on “‘The Tennessee Three’ Give Rise To The Next Civil Rights Movement: Children Should Be Able To Grow Up Free From Gun Violence”

  1. Over $250K raised for expelled TN state reps by Connecticut senator
    By Caleb Wethington
    Published: Apr. 7, 2023 at 11:59 AM MST|Updated: 22 hours ago

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – In response to the expulsion of two Tennessee state representatives on Thursday, a U.S. senator from Connecticut started a fundraiser that has received over $250,000 overnight.

    Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut started a fundraiser Thursday night to help former State Representatives Justin Pearson, D-Memphis and Justin Jones, D-Nashville, run for re-election in the special election following their expulsion.

    Murphy said, “The Republicans can kick them out, but they can’t stop them from running in the special election.”

    Overnight, the donations poured in and when he woke up to check the fundraiser, Murphy saw that over $250K was raised for Jones and Pearson.

    “The anti-gun violence movement is just a powerhouse. We are unstoppable,” he said.

    https://www.wsmv.com/2023/04/07/over-250k-raised-expelled-tn-state-reps-by-connecticut-senator/

  2. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that this expulsion will result in a special election in those legislatiors’ districts because we are more than 12 months out from the next regular election in 2024. therefore, it is VERY likely that their constituents will spit in the Republicans’ collective faces by overwhelmingly reelected these two legislators. They will return with a massive mandate at their backs.

  3. Just saw this article. No surprise that White Supremacy (aka the GOP) would fight to make this stick. I was listening to Pearson last night and I knew he’s the one they fear the most.

    https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/memphis-could-lose-funding-for-major-projects-if-pearson-appointed-back-to-seat-commissioner-says/article_a314c216-d582-11ed-9766-8f4212e502ec.html

    Memphis could lose funding for major projects if Pearson appointed back to seat, commissioner says
    FOX13 Memphis News Staff 4 hrs ago

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A Shelby County commissioner told FOX13 on Friday that Nashville leaders are threatening to take away funding from Memphis and other Shelby County projects if the county commission decides to reinstate expelled state Rep. Justin J. Pearson.

  4. Charlie Sykes writes at The Bulwark, “The Stupidity. It Burns.”, https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/the-stupidity-it-burns?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=87272&post_id=113154230&isFreemail=false&utm_medium=email

    The Republican good old boys could have fined the three, censured them, written a toughly worded letter of reprimand, or perhaps even ignored the whole thing and focused on the murder of the three children and three adults.

    But no.

    Instead, they rushed ahead with resolutions to expel the elected representatives.

    The stupidity. At ramming speed.

    Not only was this is a horrific look for the GOP, it was also a case of rank political malpractice. By expelling the two Democrats, the Republican super majority accomplished the exact opposite of what they intended: As members of the minority party in the lower House of Tennessee’s undistinguished legislature, the three Democrats —State Reps. Justin Jones, Justin J. Pearson, and Gloria Johnson – had been obscure, local political players.

    By martyring them, the GOP has turned them into national stars. All three are impressive and eloquent, and they are about to be a ubiquitous presence on television.

    So instead of disgracing or silencing them, the GOP’s naked retaliation amplified their message beyond anything the three could have done themselves.

    Idiocracy on steroids.

  5. “VP Kamala Harris to meet with ‘Tennessee Three’ in surprise visit to Nashville after expulsions over gun protests”, https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/07/tennessee-house-expulsion-kamala-harris-meet-ousted-members/11621736002/

    Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise visit to Nashville on Friday to push for gun control and meet with two Tennessee Democratic lawmakers who were expelled from the General Assembly after protesting for gun reform on the floor of the statehouse.

    The hastily scheduled trip came after Tennessee House Republicans voted Thursday to expel Reps. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, on a 72-25 vote, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis, 69-26, in moves that drew condemnation from President Joe Biden and became a national flashpoint on gun control and race.

    Harris is set to meet with legislators at Fisk University, which is hosting a gathering of community leaders to support expelled lawmakers.

    A White House official said Harris traveled to Nashville to lift “the voices” of thousands of young voters who have led demonstrations at the Tennessee state Capitol to change gun laws but haven’t swayed the state’s Republican majority.

    Harris will also renew Biden’s call for Congress to pass a nationwide ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

    Harris intends to meet with the state Legislature’s Democratic caucus, including Jones, Pearson and Johnson, as well as young people who led protests at the Tennessee Capitol.

    The vice president “wants to make sure that these young people’s voices are heard,” the White House official said. “In the face of a very tragic event, they want action.”

  6. UPDATE: “Majority of Nashville council members say they will vote to reinstate expelled legislator”, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/majority-nashville-council-members-say-will-vote-reinstate-expelled-le-rcna78706

    A majority of members of the Nashville Metropolitan Council will vote to reinstate Justin Jones to the Tennessee state Legislature after he was expelled from the House of Representatives on Thursday over his protests on the chamber floor against gun violence.

    Twenty-three members of the 40-seat Metropolitan Council confirmed to NBC News or on social media that they plan to vote to reinstate Jones to the Legislature.

    The council, which currently has 39 members, will hold a special meeting Monday to discuss an interim replacement for Jones’ seat. Vice Mayor Jim Shulman said he expects the council will take action to suspend the rules at the meeting to vote on a successor to fill Jones’ seat instead of holding a monthlong nomination period.

    In interviews with NBC News, members expressed outrage at Jones’ expulsion and said hundreds of constituents have reached out to demand that he be reinstated.

    “Shelby County could reappoint Justin Pearson after expulsion from TN House”, https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2023/04/06/shelby-county-could-reappoint-pearson-after-expulsion-from-tn-house/70090428007/

    The Shelby County Commission could consider reappointing Justin Pearson to his seat in the Tennessee statehouse, Chairman Mickell Lowery said Thursday.

    Vacancies can be filled on an interim basis by the county legislative body until a legislator is elected in a special election.

    In Shelby County, the commission has a nine-member Democratic supermajority.

    Lowery, speaking before Pearson’s expulsion, said that if Pearson was expelled, he would call a special meeting to vote on an interim representative. He would seek a legal opinion on whether Pearson could be reappointed, he said.

    Marcy Ingram, a Shelby County assistant attorney, told The Commercial Appeal she knew of no legal reason why the commission could not reappoint Pearson.

    If the commission does consider reappointing Pearson, the vote is not likely to be unanimous.

    Commissioner Amber Mills, a Republican, said she would not reappoint Pearson (but of course).

    • “If the commission does consider reappointing Pearson, the vote is not likely to be unanimous.”

      Well, those Republicans do stay on the same page, do they not?

      White supremacy is a bond stronger than Gorilla Super Glue.

  7. Excellent post, AZBlueMeanie. This is the most important story of the week, at least here in the US.

    These Republican state legislatures are a real problem these days. They have no boundaries whatsoever. They’re going for broke because it’s now or never. They intend to destroy democracy to save white supremacy.

    It’s not hard to see why these GOP white supremacists in Tennessee are so afraid. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are indeed reminiscent of the civil rights era. And Pearson is quite the orator. The GOP white supremacists believe they have to be ever vigilant, or they could end up with another MLK Jr, Malcolm X, Fred Hampton or, God forbid, a Barack Obama.

    These people are racist down to the marrow in their bones. It’s in their red and white blood cells. It’s all they know.

  8. Glad to see AZ has competition for the race to the bottom. I’d hate to think AZ has a monopoly on RWNJ MAGAt trumpers (Treasonous Racist Uncouth Maga Putin Enabling Reprobate Scum.)

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