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Michigan Legislative Black Caucus saddened by Tennessee expulsion vote

Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature at the State Capitol Building in Nashville on Thursday.
Seth Herald
/
Getty Images
Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones gestures during a vote on his expulsion from the state legislature at the State Capitol Building in Nashville on Thursday.

Members of the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus are sharing their disappointment at yesterday’s [THURS] vote in Tennessee to remove two of that state’s Black lawmakers from office.

The Democratic Tennessee representatives were expelled for taking part in a gun control protest in their House chamber.

A third Tennessee Democrat—a white woman—kept her seat by one vote.

Michigan Senator Erika Geiss [guys] says the expulsion is a callback to tactics used during the Reconstruction and Jim Crowe eras.

Geis had this to say, "Just evidence of a type of racism that is really insidious and is appearing even in the spaces where we’re supposed to be the most fair minded."

It’s possible both Tennessee lawmakers could re-join their state’s general assembly through either special appointment or running again.