The Rachel Maddow Show WEEKNIGHTS 9PM ETMorning Joe WEEKDAYS 6AM ETDeadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace Weekdays 4PM ETThe Beat with Ari Melber Weeknights 6PM ETThe Weeknight Weeknights 7PM ETAll in with Chris Hayes TUESDAY-FRIDAY 8PM ETThe Briefing with Jen Psaki TUESDAYS – FRIDAYS 9PM ETThe Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnel Weeknights 10PM ETThe 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle Weeknights 11PM ET
The Black lawmakers expelled in Tennessee had been GOP targets
Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, the freshman lawmakers expelled in Tennessee after protesting against gun violence, had been targeted by Republicans for months.
I think “ReidOut” frequent guest Elie Mystal framed the sentiment best in this tweet.
It is rare, RARE, that you will see racism so surprising that it even catches *black* folks off guard. But, literally nobody I talked to, even as recently as a few hours go, thought Tennessee would have the unmitigated gall to expel the two black guys and not the white woman.
As Mystal describes, Tennessee Republicans expelled two Black House members, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, on Thursday, while a vote to expel a white House member who protested alongside them, Gloria Johnson, failed.
Rep. Gloria Johnson on why she survived while two of her colleagues were expelled from the Tennessee House: "Well, I think it's pretty clear. I'm a 60-year-old white woman and they are two young Black men." pic.twitter.com/6dNbW9dOHz
The racism here seems quite clear, even if we just use this week’s events as evidence.
But we don’t have to do that. There’s a broader pool of evidence indicating this is a racist power grab meant to suppress a multiracial, multigenerational Democratic movement that’s burgeoning in Tennessee. (As I’ve written previously, conservatives are attempting these power grabs more frequently these days.)
That incident matches claims from state Sen. London Lamar, who told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Thursday that Tennessee Republicans had punished her as well for wearing pro-Black clothing and speaking out against racism.
“They are pretty weak when it comes to their egos,” Lamar said.
That gives you a sense of the white paternalism gripping the Tennessee General Assembly, where conservatives have gerrymandered themselves into a supermajority. Here’s a GIF that perfectly illustrates the modern Tennessee Republican Party:
Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, recently signed a law that will cut the size of Nashville’s city council in half, from 40 members to just 20. This comes after the council’s decision not to host the 2024 Republican National Convention.
State Sen. Charlane Oliver, a Democrat from Nashville, told CBS News in March that the council reduction will “set us back decades.” She said it will “disproportionately impact the Black representation [and] minority representation” and will “steal and silence our voices.”
State Sen. Adam Lowe, a Republican, had a different response.
“Conventional wisdom for the past four decades has been that smaller group sizes tend to make better decisions, and this is the largest council that we see,” Lowe said. He added: “There’s a reason why we’re judged by 12 of our peers in a jury and there’s a reason, I think, why Christ walked with 12 of his disciples.”
It’s an excellent summary of the worldview of too many American conservatives: Racist oppression … in Jesus’ name.
— TN House Republicans (@tnhousegop) February 9, 2023
