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Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) said Sunday that the recent expulsions of two Democratic Black state lawmakers was an “embarrassment” for the state, but argued it was “more of a control issue than racist.”
The expulsions of Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones (Nashville) and Rep. Justin Pearson (Memphis) came after they participated in a protest against gun violence. Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville), a white woman and the third member of the so-called “ Tennessee Three” who participated in the protests, survived a vote to oust her.
“I’ve had many people contact me through emails and phone calls saying how they never thought Tennessee was this type of state, that we were different. Now they put us in the bottom rank of states and they find this to be objectionable, and it certainly has a racist appearance. I think it was more of a control issue than racist. But it was just too heavy handed,” Cohen said.
Johnson has been outspoken about how race played a factor in how she and her two colleagues were treated.
