Ousted Tennessee state representatives criticized the state and the statehouse for being “undemocratic” and “toxic” on Sunday, and said they plan to run for their seats again in a special election.
Former Tennessee state Reps. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and Justin Jones (D-Nashville) told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press” that their expulsion from the state legislature was undemocratic and “dangerous” for democracy. They vowed that they will accept a reappointment if their districts place them there and that they will run in the special elections to fill their seats.
“The reality is Cameron Sexton, the Speaker of the House, called those children and teenagers insurrectionists and that type of language is that type of political ideology that is destructive to our democracy,” Jones said. “And what ends up happening is the perpetuation of systems of injustice, like patriarchy, like white supremacy, that lead to the expulsion of two of the youngest Black lawmakers in Tennessee.”
Pearson and Jones were expelled from the Tennessee state legislature on Thursday after they participated in a protest on the House floor against gun violence. A third lawmaker, Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), also participated in the protest, but survived the vote to remove her.
The expulsion has sparked outrage across the Democrat party, with many officials raising concerns of racism and threatening democracy regarding the move to expel the two lawmakers. Pearson and Jones, both Black men, were expelled, but Johnson, a white woman, survived her vote.
“I think our presence as young black voices for our constituencies people, who will not bow down, those who will not be conformed, that’s what made it put a target on us the day we walked in the Tennessee General Assembly,” Jones said.
When asked if he felt unwelcome in the state legislature, Pearson said it was a “toxic work environment.”
“It has always been a toxic work environment to work in the Tennessee State Capitol, when you have people who made comments about hanging you on a tree and hanging Black people on a tree as a form of capital punishment, when you were a dashiki on the House floor and a member gets up and they talk about your dashiki saying it’s unprofessional,” Pearson said.
“They’re really sending signals that you don’t belong here,” he added.