There is an eerie parallel in the recent decision to expel two Tennessee legislators over guns and the gag order imposed on any discussion of slavery in the Antebellum South, especially when you consider the white woman legislator, who similarly spoke out on gun violence in the state, was not expelled. The same fascist streak is alive and well in a political party that continually complains that it is being stifled by the mainstream media. No worry as the story coming out of Nashville is gaining all kinds of attention.
Great strides in America are met with tiny little steps backwards until you find yourself right back where you started from. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson will most likely be reelected to their seats in special elections as they represent overwhelmingly black and liberal districts in Nashville and Memphis. Both are representative of the growing young Millennial and Gen Z electorate that is tired of seeing all the gun violence in the country, most recently in Nashville where an armed gunperson killed three young children and three adults at a Christian school.
The assailant was a 28-year old white woman, who dropped a manifesto of sorts before going on her shooting spree. It's extremely rare that a woman would commit a mass shooting, but this disease seems to be affecting everyone. No one is sure what the motive is yet or even if there was any motive at all. But, it is clear that easy access to firearms makes it a whole lot easier for someone to vent his or her anger on society.
This is what Jones and Pearson were trying to address in the Tennessee state legislature before they were effectively gagged. I'm not sure why Gloria Johnson wasn't expelled as she vociferously joined Jones and Pearson on the floor of the House. I well imagine she will continue to speak out, as such a move hasn't happened since Reconstruction times.
It gives you a pretty good idea how anachronistic many of these Southern state legislatures are. Old time Democrats, or Dixiecrats, switched to the Republican party during the Reagan Revolution, bringing all that antebellum baggage with them. They like to claim that they represent the party of Abraham Lincoln, but Honest Abe would roll over in his grave if he saw what has happened to his beloved political party that once stood for the right of free expression.
It was during his time that abolitionist Charles Sumner was caned for speaking out against slavery on the floor of the House by Preston Brooks. The conservative Democrats had placed a gag order on any discussion of slavery and Brooks was widely regarded as a hero, although he died of the croup the following year. Sumner never fully recovered from that caning, although he lived to see slavery abolished in 1863 and the Confederate states brought to its' heels in 1865. Poetic justice I guess.
The odd thing about Tennessee is that it is split politically but Democrats have been herded into a handful of districts so that they don't have fair representation in the state legislature. This is true throughout the South and why Republicans continue to hold onto state legislatures in general elections. There is little hope for change as conservatives have stacked the state courts in their favor. It would take an event of seismic proportions to alter the current political make-up in these states.
Sadly, you find similar situations throughout America now. Wisconsin had long been regarded as a liberal pro-union state but in 2011 Republicans managed to take the state legislature and governor's mansion in the wake of the banking collapse that for some odd reason was blamed on the Democrats. They quickly went to work redistricting the state so that the legislature would stay Republican red, allowing them to stack the state courts with conservative judges. The same story played out in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It took 8 long years to turn the tide, and only recently were liberals able to regain control of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court in a hotly contested election.
It's not just gun control that is on the ballot but abortion and gay rights as well. Republicans would dearly love to take America back to 1963, before the Civil Rights Act was passed. Conversely, they love to blame Democrats for slavery and the post-Civil War segregation laws, as they were the party in power at the time.
Contemporary Republicans persistently accuse the Democratic Party of fostering this "plantation mentality" when it is their own party that has been rolling back progressive legislation across the country. If Republicans can't do it through the state legislatures then they file appeals to the federal courts to block executive orders on everything from gun control to health care to student loan deferments. Not surprisingly, Blacks and other minorities overwhelmingly subscribe to today's Democratic Party. Yet, the irony seems lost on the GOP.
This switch occurred in the 1960's. Blacks had long identified themselves with the Republican Party as the Party of Lincoln, but it was John F. Kennedy who reached out to Coretta Scott King when her husband was arrested in Atlanta, not Richard Nixon. Kennedy won a very narrow election thanks in large part to overwhelming Black support in key states. This paved the way for the monumental Civil Rights legislation that was passed in 1964 following the assassination of Kennedy.
Many Southern and Midwest Democrats were opposed to this legislation. President Johnson himself was a Texas Democrat that had long been resistant to change while serving as Senate Majority Leader. Yet, the assassination of Kennedy had been a watershed event for him and he pushed through the legislation by gaining Republican support to offset the recalcitrant Democrats in Congress.
Not all Republicans supported the landmark legislation. Barry Goldwater ran against the Civil Rights Act in 1964, gaining support among frustrated Southern and Midwest Democrats. It wasn't enough to unseat Johnson, but he laid out a blueprint known as the "Southern strategy" that would allow Nixon to win the White House in 1968. Goldwater and Nixon steadfastly claimed it wasn't a racist strategy but it was clear who they were appealing to.
Today we see the strange fruit of their labors: an incredibly xenophobic, race-baiting political party that will stoop to the lowest level to win an election and consolidate power once ensconced in office. Republicans can't stand anyone speaking out against them, especially two young Black freshman legislators who represent the changing face of society. Conservative lawmakers figure they can get away with it given how well the "anti-woke" rhetoric is playing among their electorate.
Republicans are only forestalling the inevitable as the demographics are changing before our eyes with more and more young persons becoming politically active. For decades, conservatives consoled themselves with the idea that young people were too apathetic to vote but obviously young state legislators like Jones and Pearson prove that is no longer true, even in a former Confederate state like Tennessee.
Maybe something good will come out of this after all. The Tennessee state legislature showed the world that it is hopelessly out of step with society and I well imagine the voters in Memphis and Nashville will return Pearson an Jones to their respective seats soon.
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