Accusations of racism rocketed Thursday night in Tennesee. As three elected Democrats were threatened with disqualification from the local legislature for participating in a protest against gun violence inside the Capitol building, after the shooting at a Nashville school, the verdict fell to boos: the two black parliamentarians were excluded while their colleague, white, saved his head with a vote.
“Tennessee just kicked out two black guys but not the white woman. They quietly demonstrated racism,” reacted on Twitter the influential African-American commentator and lawyer Elie Mystal.
« Insurrection »
Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson joined thousands of protesters last week, many of them students, who interrupted parliament to demand new gun restrictions after the shooting at a Nashville elementary school. which killed six people, including three 9-year-old children. In front of the desk, the three elected officials had chanted with a megaphone “No action, no peace” and “Power to the people”.
The Republican Speaker of the House had called their action “an insurrection”, comparing the situation to the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and a vote to exclude them for “disturbing parliamentary order” was organized.
The elected white saved with one voice
In a process similar to impeachment, it required a two-thirds majority vote (66 votes) to exclude elected officials. It has only happened twice since the end of the Civil War, in 1980 and 2016 for cases of corruption and sexual harassment, and always with votes bringing together elected officials from both parties. But this time, only the Republicans have engaged in this crusade.
First it was Justin Jones who was excluded with a 72-25 vote in favor. In the process, Gloria Johnson escaped the same sanction by one vote (65-30), with four Republicans who changed their vote. Then Justin Pearson was sent off (69-26). During the debates, a Republican accused him of “going on a whim” to “get attention”, in a tirade on latent racism. “You’ve all heard that. How many of you would accept being spoken to like that? Pearson replied.
“Maybe it has to do with the color of my skin”
“An elected official who has expressed his opposition can be excluded, this is unheard of in Tennessee. This has never happened in our history, ”reacted Justin Jones on American television. “What the country sees is that we don’t have democracy in Tennessee,” he continued. “I will continue to hold them responsible for their actions (…) It is not only about me, but also about trying to silence and exclude the movement that we are trying to carry. »
Asked afterwards to explain this disparity, Gloria Johnson replied without hiding: “Maybe it has to do with the color of my skin”
“Three children and three officials killed in yet another mass killing. And what are the elected representatives of the Republican Party focusing on? Punish elected officials who joined thousands of peaceful protesters demanding action,” US President Joe Biden blasted on Twitter. “It is shocking, anti-democratic and unprecedented,” he added.