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On Thursday, April 6, the Republican-dominated Tennessee State House expelled State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Tenn.) and Justin Pearson (D-Tenn.), two of three Tennessee legislators, dubbed the “Tennessee Three,” who led a protest in the chamber after Republicans refused to do anything to meaningfully address gun violence after a horrible school shooting in Nashville that killed six people. The third legislator is State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Tenn.), who survived the expulsion vote by one vote. Johnson is white, while Jones and Pearson are Black.
Although Jones and Pearson were promptly reappointed by their respective County Boards of Commissioners, the expulsions underscore an important point—the Republican Party of Tennessee, and the Republican Party at large, is a racist, hypocritical and fundamentally unserious political organization.
Firstly, why was Johnson saved from expulsion, while Jones and Pearson weren’t? I think Johnson said it best.
“I’m a 60-year-old white woman and they are two young Black men,” Johnson said.
In leaked audio from a Republican conference meeting, Representative Jody Barrett (R-Tenn), who voted to expel Jones and Pearson but not Johnson, was lambasted by his colleagues for making them look racist. The Republicans were complaining about being called racists for the expulsions. Maybe they’ll expel Barrett now too.
Jones, in his speech on the floor of the house defending himself, pointed out the misconduct of his Republican colleagues that did not result in expulsion. State Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Tenn.), a leader in the House, attempted to pants a referee he was angry at during a high school basketball game. No expulsion. A Republican member of the state house urinated in the office chair of State Representative Rick Tillis (R-Tenn.). No expulsion. Former State Representative David Byrd (R-Tenn.) admitted to sexually assaulting underage girls when he was an educator. Republicans didn’t even hold a hearing. While Jones filmed the proceedings in the State House, State Representative Justin Lafferty (R-Tenn.) pushed Jones and took his phone. No consequences. And there were no consequences for State Representative Sabi Kumar (R-Tenn.) for implying that Black people are more culturally inclined to commit crimes. The double standard is striking.
Or, let’s talk about Tennessee House of Representatives Speaker Cameron Sexton, the man that relegated Johnson to a windowless office in retaliation for not supporting his election as speaker. After the expulsion vote, it came out that Sexton lives full-time in Nashville while claiming to live in Cookeville. Tennessee legislators get a per-diem salary based on how far away from home they travel to the State Capitol in Nashville. By claiming to live in Cookeville and not Nashville, Sexton is stealing thousands of dollars from the taxpayers of Tennessee.
Instead of doing anything to meaningfully address gun violence, Republicans are expelling lawmakers, whining about being called racist and calling transgender people violent because the shooter happened to be transgender, all while denying that there is a problem with the white nationalist and far-right violence they continue to incite. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were right to storm the well, and Democrats in blue-state legislatures should retaliate and expel Republican lawmakers for the most frivolous of ethics violations. If Republicans are going to play dirty, Democrats should too.