Message from Nashville
This week began in the shadow of yet another mass killing. The deaths of three children and three adults on March 27 in a small Christian school in Nashville had sparked renewed demands for gun control, amidst the grief of funerals and families dealing with pain and loss. It ended with the expulsion of two young African American legislators who supported public demonstrations calling for change.
The right-wing republican legislature accused the “Tennessee Three “of disorderly behavior and moved to expel them from the state legislature. In so doing, the legislature managed to further highlight divisions of race and gender by narrowly allowing Rep. Gloria Johnson, the only democratic white woman representative, to retain her seat while expelling Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. Johnson, refused to play into the division, emphasizing her solidarity with her colleagues. When asked by a reporter why she was spared expulsion she pointed out, “It might have to do with the color of my skin.”
The assault on the three legislatures further highlighted the disdain for democracy which has become a central tenet of right-wing republicans. The drive to expulsion to disenfranchise thousands of urban voters, many of whom are African American, quickly recalled the days of Jim Crow. Noting the hypocrisy surrounding this move to expel people for supporting protesters, Justin Jones said the legislature was “holding up a mirror to a state that is going back to some dark, dark roots… A state in which the Ku Klux Klan was founded is now attempting another power grab by silencing the two youngest Black representatives and one of the only Democratic women in this body,” he said. “That’s what this is about.”
As important as the drama within the State Legislature may prove to be, the real story of this week is likely to be unfolding in the streets. Thousands of people gathered day after day inside and outside the halls of the State Legislature, showing their support first for gun control measures, then for the Tennessee Three.
The fight to restore Jones and Pearson to their seats is just beginning. Rev. William J. Barber II, a co-chairman of the Poor People’s Campaign said, “As clergy, as prophetic voices, we can no longer just do the pastoral work” of providing comfort and performing funerals, we must do the prophetic work of changing policy.” Mr. Barber announced a rally in Nashville on April 17. Local leaders, including clergy, are organizing marches and protests.
Over the course of the week, I was able to see much of what was unfolding in Nashville, thanks to friends who were a part of the protests. They posted videos and images of the thousands of young people who came to demand change.
The image of their faces provided a stark contrast to the speeches of the republican legislators seething with hatred as they pushed for expulsion.
Two things should be abundantly clear from Nashville. The politics of hate are reasserting themselves with a new viciousness. And the right wing has lost the young. Change is going to come.