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Two former Black Democratic lawmakers ousted by their Republican colleagues in Tennessee said they wanted to be reappointed, then re-elected to their seats, after they were ousted for protests on the House floor calling for gun control measures in the wake of the deadly shooting. school shooting.
The Nashville metro council will likely elect Justin Jones to the seat during a special meeting Monday. The Shelby County Commission plans to announce soon when it will meet to fill the vacancy left by Justin Pearson’s expulsion. In addition, the commissioners may reinstate Pearson, who is from Memphis.
Both former lawmakers told NBC Meet Press that they want to return to their position as legislators. A special election for the seat, which has yet to be determined, will be held in the coming months.
Expulsions have made Tennessee a new front in the fight for the future of American democracy. The former lawmaker quickly attracted famous supporters. President Joe Biden spoke with him and Vice President Kamala Harris visited him in Nashville.
“You know, we’re going to continue to fight for our constituents,” Jones said. “And one thing I just want to say … is that this attack on us is hurting everyone in our country. You know, even though it’s disproportionately impacting Black and Brown communities, it’s hurting poor white people. Democracy is hurting us all.”
Tennessee Republicans on Friday expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the state legislature for their role in protests calling for more gun control after a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Justin J. Pearson, one of the expelled lawmakers, spoke to Rosemary Barton Live about what happened in the state legislature this week and what it means to democracy.
In a separate vote Thursday, the GOP majority expelled Jones and Pearson, a move that left about 140,000 voters in predominantly black districts in Nashville and Memphis without representation in the House.
Pearson and Jones were expelled in retaliation for their role in the protest the week before, which unfolded after the school shooting in Nashville that killed six people, including three young students.
A third Democrat, Rep. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, was not ousted by a one-vote margin. Johnson is white, spurring the outcry in different results for two young, Black lawmakers. Divided Republican lawmakers have cited Johnson’s points on the floor that his role in the protests was minimal — for example, that he didn’t speak with a megaphone.
Johnson also suggested race may have been a factor in why Jones and Pearson were fired but not him, telling reporters that “it might have something to do with the color of our skin.”
Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said it was a “false narrative.”
“It’s unfortunate that they’re trying to inject racism into politics, which has nothing to do with it,” Sexton told Fox News on Friday.
Two US presidents and vice presidents condemned the Republican-led state of Tennessee after it voted to oust two young black Democrats from office. But they won’t go away, and neither will the accusation that the removal is an example of racism.
GOP leaders said the eviction action — the only one since the Civil War — was necessary to avoid a precedent that lawmakers disrupting House proceedings through protests would be tolerated.
Pearson said the statehouse has a “toxic work environment.” He noted the scrutiny he received for wearing a black dashiki – a tunic-like garment originating in west Africa – for the session, instead of a suit and tie.
“This is about us not being included in these institutions because they are afraid of the changes that are happening in our society, and the voices that are being raised,” Pearson said. Meet Press.
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