Nearly 20,000 people have signed an online petition calling on Tennessee’s Speaker of the House to resign because of his “shameful and unlawful power grab” in leading the expulsion of two Black members of the House of Representatives.
Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson — both Black — were voted out of the chamber by the Republican majority. Their alleged offense was breaking decorum by using a megaphone to call for stronger gun laws just days after six people were killed at a Nashville private Christian school.
Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton — a member of a Southern Baptist church — accused the two men and Rep. Gloria Johnson of “insurrection” and said they must be expelled. Johnson survived the expulsion by one vote.
Sexton’s accusation was an “outright lie” according to a news release from Faithful America, the group organizing the letter calling for the speaker to resign. His intent, the advocacy group alleged, was to “silence his Black and progressive opponents and distract from demands for gun reform.”
One of the expelled lawmakers — Justin Jones — is a student at Vanderbilt Divinity School. When asked during the House hearing what he meant when he said, “No justice, no peace,” Jones responded by quoting the biblical book of Jeremiah: “They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wounds. They give assurances of peace where there is no peace.”
Jones and Pearson both were returned to the legislature by their constituents, sent to fill their own vacant seats until a special election. Jones is on board with Faithful America’s petition, saying Sexton “must resign for his attacks on democracy.”
The petition is brief: “Pro-democracy Christians across the country are appalled by the authoritarian actions of Tennessee Speaker Cameron Sexton and the Tennessee House Republican Caucus. The hasty expulsion of two Black men from the chamber for non-violent action is an attack on democracy, a blatant abuse of power, and an embrace of white supremacy. It is also an obvious attempt to distract citizens from the desperate need for new gun-reform laws. Democracy demands accountability, and we call on Speaker Sexton to resign for his shameful and unlawful power grab.”
Donna Whitney
Donna Whitney, pastoral assistant at Metropolitan Interdenominational Church of Nashville, was among the clergy promoting the petition.
“Because in a democracy, elected officials should serve the community, the community does not serve them, I join Rep. Jones in calling for Speaker Cameron Sexton to resign,” she said. “Not only did Speaker Sexton lead the anti-democratic power grab that expelled two duly elected representatives from their seats in the state house to intentionally distract the people from their failure to pass policy to protect our children, but he has also been championing a Christian nationalist agenda. It’s past time for elected leaders in Tennessee to stop their anti-democratic distractions and focus on ways they can care for and serve the people. One way to do this is by committing to and passing common sense gun reform. The first step is getting the resignation of Speaker Sexton.”
“The entire saga in Tennessee is proof that neither Christian nationalism’s white supremacy nor MAGA’s ongoing, proto-fascist assault on American democracy is limited to Donald Trump,” said Nathan Empsall, executive director of Faithful America. “The good news is that Christians in Tennessee have rallied to show the nation how we can respond during these crisis moments, using prayer and faith to inspire and lead successful organizing efforts against political fascism for justice and the common good.”
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Dear Tennessee legislators: You are driving people away from faith | Opinion by Brad Bull
Expelling dissent: America from Roger Williams to the ‘Tennessee Three’ | Opinion by Bill Leonard
Tennessee legislators turn back the clock to Jim Crow time | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy
Hypocrisy | Opinion by Mark Wingfield