News, Culture and NPR for Central & Northern Michigan

Michigan Legislative Black Caucus saddened by Tennessee expulsion vote

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5 audio

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

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.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email