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Tennessee GOP expels two Black state Representatives in a historic vote

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Protect Kids Not Guns, protesters
Students participate in National Walkout Day, Washington DC; 2018; by Lorie Schull

The blatant racism should be shocking. It’s not, and that’s appalling.

Black and expelled

  • Rep. Justin Jones, 27, D, Nashville, 72-25
  • Rep. Justin J. Pearson, 28, D, Memphis, 69-26

White and not expelled (short 1 vote)

  • Rep. Gloria Johnson, 60, D, Knoxville, 65-30

Before detailing the events in the Capitol after last week’s school shooting in Nashville (152 shots fired), a quick background on the historic nature of this vote.

Expulsion is rare.
The Tennessee Constitution (1796) provides authority to expel a member for “disorderly behavior.” In 2022, the Tennessee state Senate expelled a member for the first time. Sen. Katrina Robinson, D-Memphis, had been convicted of fraud.

A two-thirds vote is needed to expel a member of the Tennessee House. There are 99 House members, and the GOP holds a super-majority (74 to 25).

In the past 157 years, the Tennessee House has expelled two members. Neither was a hasty matter.

The prior expulsions?
On July 18, 1866, Governor William G. “Parson” Brownlow “force[d] the General Assembly to ratify” the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted citizenship to freed Black men, women and children. Confederate states that wanted to join the Union had to ratify both the 13th, which had abolished slavery, as well as the 14th Amendments.

In 1866, the Tennessee House expelled six members who tried to prevent the vote on the 14th Amendment. Tennessee became the first Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union on July 24, 1866.

What was the “crime” this week?
On March 30, the three Democratic Representatives had “talk[ed] without being recognized,” an action the Knoxville News called part of a “peaceful gun control demonstration.”

Republicans initially stripped “the Tennessee Three” of committee assignments. Here are the three who sponsored the expulsion resolutions:

On Thursday, Republicans “removed representation for nearly 150,000 Tennesseans who overwhelmingly elected Jones and Pearson.”

Jones told the General Assembly:

We called for you all to ban assault weapons, and you respond with an assault on democracy.

 

The response from students and others in the Tennessee Capitol:

What now?
Their local jurisdictions can reappoint Jones and Pearson to fill the temporary vacancies. Both seats will be open in the 2024 election cycle.

 

Elsewhere, Tennessee’s actions are a rallying call:

 

Take a look at the widespread gerrymandering in Tennessee state house districts. Click/tap an image to see it in full size.
gerrymandering in TN
gerrymandering in TN
gerrymandering in TN

 

Featured image: Flickr, Lorie Shaull; Protect Kids Not Guns; students participate in National Walkout Day at the Capitol, Washington DC, 2018.