NEW YORK, CMC – Caribbean American Democratic legislators have strongly condemned what has been described as the unprecedented expulsion of two Black Democratic lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives for “disorderly behavior” for their role in leading a protest calling for gun reform.
On Thursday, the Tennessee House voted to expel Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson.
A third Democratic lawmaker, Gloria Johnson, who is white and faced expulsion, survived the vote that needed two-thirds majority support.
The Republicans charged that the three representatives “knowingly and intentionally” brought “disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives.”
“Last night, the Republican majority in the Tennessee State Legislature decided to openly defy their Constitutional responsibilities and disregard the right to dissent in a democracy,” Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“To expel Tennessee State Representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones for standing with and amplifying peaceful protesters demanding meaningful gun reform is an unprecedented and radical shift away from the democratic values, rules, and traditions our nation was founded upon,” added Clarke, first vice chair of the US Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). “This is a democracy. Exercising one Constitutional right to assemble peacefully and protest is not subordinate to the right to the Second Amendment.
“They were exercising their first amendment right and, for that, these young, Black, duly elected men were expelled,” continued Clarke, representing the predominantly Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York. “They were stripped of their franchise, disenfranchising the people they represent.
“Real change happens when we call attention to a problem, hold our elected leaders accountable, and create meaningful solutions and laws to make every community safer,” she said. “Most Americans believe we must have common sense gun control reforms. It’s time leaders on both sides of the aisle come together to help save lives and curb America’s gun violence epidemic.”
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, said: “The injustice we have seen in recent days in Tennessee comes at an intersection of American failures – structural racism, punishing protest, and a willingness to wash our hands in response to unending, unspeakable violence.
“The backlash to this nonviolent act of civil disobedience, and who faced harshest consequences, shows it’s never about the means of demonstration but rather demonizing the identity and cause of those raising their voices,” he told CMC. “But protest is meant to disrupt. Protest is meant to draw attention to and drive change on systemic injustices.
“And in their initial protest, in spotlighting and condemning the racist, undemocratic response, these expelled public servants have achieved a great deal,” Williams added. “The initial ‘offense’ of these legislators was to demand action to prevent gun violence in the wake of another horrific shooting.
“I hope that by expressing dual outrage at conservatives’ inaction on guns and authoritarian reaction to being called out for it, we can direct our anger into progress,” he continued.
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair, New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, described the expulsion of the Black Democratic legislators for “peacefully standing up against gun violence” as “a deplorable action that goes against the will of the people, ignores due process, and is a clear violation of their First Amendment rights.”
“The racist and authoritarian actions of the far-right in Tennessee are an alarm bell for our democracy, showing the dangerous consequences of extremist GOP (Grand Old Party, nickname for the Republican Party) views that must be stopped,” said Bichotte Hermelyn, who represents the 42nd Assembly District in Brooklyn. “Six people, including three 9-year-old children, were killed in a tragic Nashville school shooting. All sides of the aisle should’ve decried this senseless gun violence.
“Instead, the GOP claimed now-former Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson committed an ‘insurrection’ for speaking out of turn,” she added. “Why was the Black lawmakers’ white colleague, Gloria Johnson, allowed to remain in office for the same commendable act? The answer is sheer racism from the hypocritical party that caused a deadly insurrection in our US Capitol and infringed on our Constitutional rights of free speech.
“The Brooklyn Democratic Party calls on GOP lawmakers to condemn this action as we continue to fight for democracy and commonsense gun control measures to prevent more senseless deaths,” Bichotte Hermelyn continued.
On Friday, US Vice President Kamala Harris, the daughter of retired Jamaican economist Donald Harris, visited Nashville to meet with the expelled legislators.
US President Joe Biden said Thursday’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest was “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”
“Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” he said in a White House statement. “Most Americans want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms that we know will save lives. But instead, we’ve continued to see Republican officials across America double down on dangerous bills that make our schools, places of worship, and communities less safe. Our kids continue to pay the price.
“Congress must ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and require background checks for all gun sales, and state officials must do the same,” Biden added.
and then 