President Biden Hosts Tennessee State Legislators Expelled After Gun Protest
Source: Win McNamee / Getty

In a country where white nationalists are essentially dominating all three branches of government, and making white nationalism the law of the land again, we need more public officials, especially Black public officials, to publicly regard white supremacy as exactly what it is, and talk to it as such.

So, basically, in a world of Klan-like Tennessee Republicans, be a Justin Pearson.

In 2023, Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was one of two Black Democrats named Justin to be expelled by House Republicans for leading an anti-gun protest on the House floor in the wake of the Nashville elementary school shooting that year. As I wrote then, he and Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) were targeted for expulsion because white Republicans “saw two Black men on the House floor with their fists in the air and they got their triggered Klan-derwear all in a noose-knot over it.”

Well, on Thursday, the third day of a special session on redistricting in the state, Pearson went viral for getting into it with Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers during a protest over Tennessee Republicans seizing on the Supreme Court’s decision to gut the Voting Rights Act — by essentially making it legal to dilute Black voting power, but illegal to create majority Black voting districts to combat the dilution of Black voting power — in order to pass a new voting map that eliminates the Tennessee’s only majority Black district.

From Action News 5:

Cameras in the Tennessee Capitol captured a tense moment between State Representative Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) and state troopers who were detaining his brother Thursday, moments after GOP lawmakers passed a new congressional map that split the brothers’ city into three districts.

Before state Republicans passed the newly proposed congressional map on Thursday, protests erupted in the House chamber, prompting Tennessee Highway Patrol to remove demonstrators.

“Get the f*** back!” Justin is heard shouting at officers as he and his brother, KeShaun Pearson, were being escorted out of the House chambers.

The Memphis lawmaker could be heard raising his voice at one particular trooper as the crowd moved outside. “Boy! The f*** is wrong with you?! The f*** is wrong with you?! Stupid m***********…”

Troopers were seen on video bringing at least one other person into custody.

Pearson hugged KeShaun and told him he was proud of him before troopers took him away.

After the new map was passed, Pearson went in front of reporters and called a spade a spade.

“These maps are racist tools of white supremacy at the behest of the most powerful white supremacist, Donald J. Trump,” he said.

So, yeah — more of this, please.

If Black leaders and Democratic politicians really want to do something productive — not even revolutionary — they can normalize calling out white supremacy by name the same way the MAGA world has normalized amplifying it and turning it into legislation.

We are tired. Let’s not be afraid to act like it.

SEE ALSO:

Justin Pearson Fights For Environmental Justice And Community In Memphis

Tennessee Reveals New Map Eliminating Majority-Black District

Tennessee Map Eliminates State’s Only Majority Black District