Justin Pearson & Justin Jones Win Back Their Seats After Blatantly Racist ‘Tennessee Three’ Expulsion

Two Democratic lawmakers from Tennessee were reinstated after being expelled over a gun vote protest. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, both young Black men, were reinstated shortly after their April expulsion but only for the interim. They were both on their respective ballots in last week’s August election and while both young lawmakers faced opponents, they easily won according to state officials.

Pearson largely thanked Black women for their role in his success and everyone else can take note! This is something I want to hear more explicitly said by politicians as Black women continue to be the bedrock of the Democratic Party! Their organizing skills and passion have helped propel people of all stripes into office across the country and the recognition is well deserved. 

A special session is expected later in August where Tennessee politicians will debate changing the state’s gun laws. With a supermajority favoring the Republicans, meaningful legislation, if any at all, curbing gun violence is not likely to pass. But we can still expect Pearson and Jones to fight back against those who seek to do absolutely nothing to help save our kids and families from bloodshed.

As a reminder, the initial protests that got these two Democrats expelled took place after another school shooting, this time at an ELEMENTARY school in Nashville. Republicans claimed that their protest violated House rules, a technicality that has only been acted on a few times since the Civil War. Though their punishment was ridiculous and racially motivated (their white counterpart was not expelled, though she took part in the protests as well), I cannot think of a better cause to fight for than seeking new gun control measures to unequivocally save lives. The silver lining in their initial expulsion was that they were able to have a more significant public debate about ongoing gun violence. The publicity that they have brought to this extremely important issue cannot be overstated. 

Relative unknowns before this incident, Pearson and Jones are becoming beacons of hope for those of us who want to see our politicians actually fight for what is right. While Nashville, like most major cities, skews blue, Tennessee as a whole is not particularly known as a bastion of liberal ideas. But seeing Pearson and Jones fight so steadfastly is giving hope to other leaders, both in Tennessee and across the nation. For example, community activist and organizer Aftyn Behn is making noise while vying for a House seat in the northeastern area of Nashville, after the death of Democratic Representative Bill Beck back in June. She and many others are taking the leap from organizing for change to voting on it. And I think this is a good thing!

(featured image: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)