“There is a force of authoritarianism rising,” Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones told participants in a conference on democracy in Washington, D.C., Feb. 27.
Jones spoke to the “Together for Democracy” conference Tuesday evening in the nation’s capital after flying from the Tennessee capitol, where his voice once again had been silenced by the Republican speaker of the House. Jones, who is a Democrat representing the Nashville area, is one of the “Tennessee Three,” who faced expulsion from the Legislature last year for protesting legislative inaction on gun control.
Jones and fellow Rep. Justin Pearson were voted out of the House by the Republican majority, while Rep. Gloria Johnson was spared expulsion by one vote. Jones and Pearson are Black; Johnson is white. In short order, Jones and Pearson were voted back into office by their constituents, who were outraged at their expulsion.
Now, the Republican-controlled House is moving forward on a slate of bills to create more restrictions on both the citizens of Tennessee and Jones and Pearson specifically. One of those bills, which passed the House Monday, would prevent local governments from reappointing state lawmakers who have been expelled due to alleged bad behavior.
“When people say they want to take our nation back, believe them.”
That happened on the same day the House passed a bill aimed at preventing any public school or charter school in the state from displaying an LGBTQ Pride flag.
This session, House Republicans created new rules that limit how long lawmakers can debate bills and that restrict members deemed “out of order” from speaking. One of the tactics used against Jones and Pearson by Speaker Cameron Sexton has been to prevent them from speaking during debate and then ruling them to be out of order when they attempt to speak.
Jones told the Washington group gathered Tuesday night he had waited three hours to be recognized on the House floor Monday.
“If you shut off my microphone, I’ve got a megaphone in my pocket,” he told the 150 or so democracy activists, drawing a reference to the megaphone speech that got him ejected from the House last year.
“Together for Democracy” is a conference organized by Democracy Forward, a national legal organization that advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy education, public education and regulatory engagement.
The three-day by-invitation event featured speakers and workshops encouraging participants to fight for democracy against the forces of Christian nationalism and extremism.
“When people say they want to take our nation back, believe them,” urged Jones, who said such people want to take the nation back to an earlier time of white male control.
He told a story of recently leaving the Tennessee capitol in downtown Nashville, only to be confronted by a parade of angry people in red shirts “shouting vile threats.” Jones yesterday told Republicans in the House they are no different than those red shirts who want to keep out immigrants, allow free access to guns and enforce a white Christian nationalist agenda.
“If what we are doing didn’t make a difference, they wouldn’t cut off our microphones.”
How are those legislators any different from the KKK? he asked the Washington crowd.
Regarding his treatment in the Legislature, he said: “If what we are doing didn’t make a difference, they wouldn’t cut off our microphones.
And regarding efforts to have him and others removed from the chamber, he said: “You can take away our title, but you cannot take away our purpose.”
He warned the Washington group that “we are dealing with people who are morally insane,” and he urged them to join the fight. “We have to lock arms and say, ‘If you come for one of us, you come for all of us.’”
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, bangs the gavel as he rules Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, out of order during a legislative session Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Flag ban
Meanwhile, the Tennessee Legislature’s effort to ban certain flags from public schools would allow the Confederate battle flag but not the gay Pride flag.
Legislators passed House Bill 1605 on a party-line vote of 70 to 24 and now have sent it to the Senate, where it faces likely approval as soon as Thursday.
Proponents and critics of the bill disagree about what its words actually mean. One thing both sides agree on is that the intent is to ban Pride flags.
Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, is sponsor of the bill, which he says “preserves tolerance across the board for all parents and all school children.”
The Nashville Tennessean said Bulso has objected to the display of the Pride flag and the “set of values” it represents, saying it represents elevation of “same-sex marriage to the same status of traditional marriage.”
“The cause was a concern by parents in my district and one school board member that certain teachers and counselors in our district were displaying a Pride flag in the classroom and on a teacher’s desk, despite the fact that parents had objected to that display,” Bulso said. “I agreed to help them.”
Rep. Jason Powell, D-Nashville, offered an amendment to allow students to express themselves however they choose “as long as it does not materially disrupt school activities.” That amendment was voted down.
Rep. Pearson offered an amendment to specifically include the “War Between the States” flag within the ban. Otherwise, it would be allowed as a “heritage” flag.
That amendment also was disallowed, leaving the Confederate battle flag permissible in Tennessee schools.
The bill as sent to the Senate states it: “Prohibits a local education agency or public charter school from displaying, or permitting any of its employees or agents to display, any flag other than certain identified flags on or in a public school. Authorizes a student, a student’s parent or guardian, or a school employee to file a civil action against the LEA or public charter school in which the student is enrolled, or the school employee is employed, in chancery court, if the LEA or public charter school does not remedy a violation within 10 days of receiving a written notice of the violation from the student, parent or guardian, or school employee.”
Rep. Gino Bulso, R-Brentwood, presents a bill on the House floor that would prevent Pride flags from being displayed in schools during a legislative session, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Bill on expelled members
And the bill to prevent expelled representatives like Jones from being reappointed to the House is likely unconstitutional, some lawmakers charged.
The Associated Press reported: “One of the Legislature’s staff attorneys expressed concerns about the bill last week, telling House lawmakers during a committee hearing that it raises constitutional questions and suggesting proposing the change to voters in a constitutional amendment instead.”
However, Rep. Johnny Garrett, a Goodlettsville Republican who sponsored the bill, argued the Tennessee Constitution would allow the change, the AP said.
Rep. Pearson proposed multiple amendments that were voted down. He said the bill amounted to a government overreach that strips constitutional power from local officials.
“Truthfully, I am so tired of the retaliatory, racist reaction of bills targeting Rep. Jones and myself,” said Pearson, who is from Memphis. Then Speaker Sexton ruled his comments out of order.
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