Reflections on the expulsions in Tennessee
Yesterday, two duly-elected Black lawmakers were stripped of their credentials and expelled from the Tennessee house of representatives, proving that our democracy isn’t promised to us. We must do everything we can to preserve and protect it.
Thousands of people descended on the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville last week, engaging in largely peaceful protests in response to a horrific mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville that left seven people dead, including three innocent children. The protests centered primarily around gun control, and the inaction by the governing party in the legislature that currently has a supermajority.
Three lawmakers - Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) caused a minor disruption to legislative proceedings in the House chamber, with one of them using a bullhorn to amplify their voice. In true Nashville fashion, the bullhorn was provided by outlaw country icon Margo Price - who has been one of the most outspoken advocates in country music. Additionally, it is worth noting that an age-diverse cohort of lawmakers opted to come alongside the concerns of younger constituents exercising their First Amendment rights.
Calls for expulsion of the three members were almost immediate, and two of them - Jones and Pearson - were expelled from the legislature yesterday. Notably, they are both young Black men under 30. This sends a chilling message to anyone who seeks to express a viewpoint that is opposed by those in power in Tennessee, and is not the way a democratically elected governing body should operate.
As a member of Equity in Civics, a cross-organizational, field-building initiative that inclusive, representative, and culturally relevant civics education, Generation Citizen elevates the importance of young people -- and the nation at large -- enjoying equal representation and participation from all communities and constituencies. What happened in Tennessee - the expulsion of two young Black elected leaders and subsequent disenfranchisement of two majority minority districts - is not what equal representation looks like. Further, expelling two of the youngest members of the legislature not only sends the message that dissent will not be tolerated, it also suggests that the voices of younger generations hold less value. As history has told us, and the current moment has shown, young people who seek to advance justice in our society are intentionally ostracized, marginalized, and entire districts subsequently disenfranchised.
We live in a diverse country, and part of that diversity involves opinions and viewpoints that may differ from yours. When people in power seek to suppress opposing views rather than provide a space for them to be heard, democracy starts to erode. That is not a free society, that is big government intrusion. To quote Rep. Pearson, we are “a country that is built on a protest.”
To protest is to exercise one of the most fundamental rights afforded to us in this great nation. The act of protesting has been used throughout our country’s history to ensure the wheels of equity and fairness move forward even when that has meant breaking a few rules of decorum to do so - like when the Nashville Student Movement coordinated sit-in campaigns in the 60s to protest racial segregation.
This is the compromise we steward in order to forge and sustain a democracy in the United States. The value to society of being able to express one's thoughts and feelings far outweighs catering to the discomfort felt by those who disagree.
Chuck Corra is the Associate Director of Coalitions and Policy Research for Generation Citizen, and a former resident of Tennessee.