NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennessee has become a new front in the fight for the future of American democracy after Republicans expelled two Black lawmakers from the state Legislature for their part in a protest urging passage of gun-control measures.
In a separate vote on Thursday, the GOP majority ousted Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, leaving about 140,000 voters in predominantly black districts in Nashville and Memphis without representation in the Tennessee House.
Kevin Webb, a 53-year-old teacher from the Pearson district, said removing him “for a minor offense” is “classic American.”
“There has been a bias against black people in this country for 500 years,” Webb said. “What makes us think it’s going to stop?”
Pearson and Jones were fired in retaliation for their roles in the protests, which came after a school shooting in Nashville that killed six people, including three young students. A third Democrat was not ousted by a one-vote margin.
The removal of newly elected lawmakers reflects a trend in dozens of states where Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote and challenge the integrity of the electoral process.
At least 177 bills that restrict voting or create systems that could intimidate voters or allow partisan interference have been filed or introduced in dozens of states so far, according to the Brennan Center.
“It represents a really slow erosion of our democracy,” said Neha Patel, co-executive director of the State Innovation Exchange, a strategy center for state legislatures working towards progressive policies.
Patel called the eviction the “third prong of a long-range strategy.” He said it was “unprecedented” for states to make it harder to vote for people, but the practice had become “commonplace”.
It has also become common for the GOP to challenge the election process and question the integrity of the election. The next question is whether states with a Republican majority will follow Tennessee’s lead in ousting opponents with a different point of view, he said.
Fred Wertheimer, founder and president of Democracy 21, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for better government, said expulsion is generally reserved for lawmakers who engage in criminal activity.
Voters are losing their elected representatives because they are doing a job “not being listened to,” Wertheimer said. He hasn’t learned how to do the same in other countries, “but this thing travels.”
The action in Tennessee drew objections from several groups.
National Urban League President Marc Morial said the issue is about race, but “it’s not just about race. It’s about basic American values.
Referring to the right to vote, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, he said, “Looks like the Tennessee Legislature needs to refresh the American Constitution.”
The president of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford, called for Tennessee lawmakers to return to their seats and Attorney General Merrick Garland to look into potential violations of the Voting Rights Act.
NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said the civil rights organization is prepared to take legal action “to ensure that this appalling attempt to silence the voice of the people is dealt with in a court of law.”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton dismissed criticism that he is leaving thousands of Tennesseans without representation and taking away their voices.
“There are consequences for actions,” he said. “The member silenced this chamber for 45 minutes while on the floor of the house leading the protest and disrupting the business we do.”
The trio’s participation in the demo lasted only a few minutes. It was Sexton who requested a break to meet with members of parliament.
Webb asked if Jones and Pearson would be expelled while Rep. Gloria Johnson, who is white, would not.
Clayton Cardwell, who lives in Jones’ district in Nashville, said in a telephone interview that last week’s protest in support of stricter gun laws was “the right thing to do.”
“I hope that the whole House will participate,” he said. While retired teachers are getting their master’s degrees in special education, Cardwell remembers that teaching is the safest occupation you can have. “Now I think it’s one of the most dangerous.”
Cardwell, who is white, also questioned the motive for the eviction: “We’ve got a lot of prejudiced old white people.”
Nashville attorney Chris Wood is so concerned about his representative’s possible ouster that he traveled to the Capitol Thursday to watch the proceedings.
“It was horrible,” he said. “It’s an abuse of power.”
Wood has three children in public schools and called it “unbelievable and absurd” that a majority of Republicans would refuse to consider a gun ban.
There is no more important issue for the community “than ending gun violence and allowing kids to go home during the day,” he said. “This is the only country in the world where this happens.”
Wood expects Jones and Pearson to return. He can be reappointed to the House of Representatives by the district commission in the district and run again in a special election.
Andrea Wiley, a Tennessee resident who lives and works in Pearson’s district, said she is ashamed of the state.
“It’s hard to be from here and see us on the national news at this level,” he said. “It’s really scary that I don’t have a voice in Nashville that represents me, my community, my neighborhood.”
Tamala Johnson said she and her family voted for Pearson and she agrees with him on changing gun laws.
“I don’t think he should be fired for expressing his opinion,” Johnson said.
The vote to oust “left me speechless,” he said. “You’re throwing him out just because he’s fighting to improve gun laws. … There’s no credibility.”
Sainz is reported from Memphis, Tennessee. Field reporting from Washington, DC Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville, Tennessee, and Hilary Powell in Richmond, Virginia, also contributed to this report.