Michigans Black legislators: Expulsion of Black reps in Tennessee a political lynching
Alyssa Burr|aburr@mlive.com
Michigans Black state lawmakers are standing in solidarity with two Black representatives who were expelled from the Tennessee General Assembly on Thursday for their role in a protest calling for more gun control.
The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus issued a statement Friday saying the decision to remove the Democrat representatives Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis by the Republican supermajority was an unconstitutional move to silence members of the minority party.
Yesterday, the Tennessee Republican-led General Assembly showed that its members will use unjust methods, flimsy evidence, and inconsistent rules to go to any lengths to attempt silencing Black members fighting for justice, said MLBC Chairperson, Sen. Erika Geiss,
DTaylor.
Adding insult to injury the MLBC statement reads, were the racist undertones of the decision.
Along with Jones and Pearson, Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, a white woman, was also at risk of possible expulsion. While the majority of lawmakers voted to remove Jones and Pearson, Johnson was narrowly saved.
The General Assembly narrowly voting to preserve the seat of the only white woman of the Tennessee Three was a blatantly racist action, rooted in Jim Crow tactics, said MLBC Executive Vice Chair, Rep. Amos ONeal,
DSaginaw.
Dubbed the Tennessee Three, the trio joined protests last week at the Tennessee Capitol to call for more gun control in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville.
the three approached the front of the House chamber with a bullhorn, and participated in a chant as protestors filled the galleries. Tennessee Republicans moved resolutions Thursday to expel the lawmakers in retaliation.
The statement from the MLBC called the unfounded authoritarian actions by the Tennessee General Assembly a travesty.
What occurred yesterday, was nothing short of a political lynching of two strong, young, Black, male legislators, guilty of nothing except doing the jobs their communities sent them to the legislature to do, said MLBC Treasurer, Rep. Stephanie Young, DDetroit.
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Friday, April 7, 2023 at 5:11 pm