Trouble in Tennessee
A major political flashpoint occurred just recently in Nashville. Today, we hope to catch you up on what happened, and why you should care.
Jones (left) and Pearson (right) walk hand in hand in a moment of defiance ahead of a vote on their expulsions.
- Missouri state representatives John B. Clark and John W. Reid, alongside Kentucky representative Henry Burnett, joined the confederacy. They were quickly expelled from their respective house of representatives.
- Pennsylvania state representative Micheal J. Meyer was caught taking bribes, red-handed. Expelled.
- Ohio state representative John Traficant convicted of ten felony counts. Expelled.
March 27th, 2023. At a Christian elementary school in Nashville, a 28 year-old entered the building during school hours, armed with firearms they obtained legally. This led to the tragic deaths of six people, including three 9 year-old students.
April 6th, 2023. Tennessee representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson speak out of turn against gun violence. Pearson and Jones were expelled from the Tennessee House of Representatives.
The attack on March 27th was the 19th shooting at an American school or university in 2023 alone that led to at least one person severely wounded. “All of Tennessee was hurt yesterday. We will act to prevent this from happening again. There is a clear desire in all of us, whether we agree on the action steps or not, that we must work to find ways to protect against evil,” said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee in a video statement shortly after the attacks.
This has drawn national attention for hitting on a critically sensitive issue, highlighting deep partisan divides in American politics. Jones and Pearson are Black– the only Black members of the Tennessee house. The extraordinary show of political retaliation immediately drew accusations of racism, and Gloria Johnson herself credited her retaining her seat (which was spared only by a one-vote margin) to racial bias. The move was controversial and concerning.
Ultimately Jones and Pearson were given their seats back, with their respective county councils voting unanimously to reinstate the Representatives. Despite this, it raises concern for democracy that they could be removed in the first place. What happened in Tennessee was unprecedented, but it could set a new precedent for state governments.
“Rather than pass laws that will ban assault weapons and instate universal background checks, they passed resolutions to expel their colleagues,” Representative Jones remarked. The punishment of expulsion from the house of representatives has never before and should never after be used to disincentivize the use of free speech on a political floor.
For us high school students, it can be easy to dismiss national events like this. It’s easy to brush it aside and assume the sentiment of ‘I can’t make a difference.’ The reality is that through the power of democracy, we all can make a difference. It’s when we assume we are powerless that we actually become so. We are about to take over this world, we are the future. When events like what occurred in Tennessee happen, it’s important that we understand and care. Democracy dies in darkness, and being informed is the candlelight that will guide us through it.
A flashpoint of major tensions, gun violence, racial bias, First Amendment rights, partisan division. Nashville, Tennessee was the the stage for one of the most dramatic events that has occurred in American politics in some time. As soon-to-be adults, the future generation of leaders, we owe it to ourselves to understand why what happened to Jones and Pearson is so important.