- Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) said his race played a role in his expulsion from the state House on Thursday.
- “I basically had a member call me an uppity Negro,” Jones, who is Black, told MSNBC’s Joy Reid after the 72-25 vote that expelled him. “It’s not about me, but it’s about the 78,000 people I represent,” he added, noting his constituents would be disenfranchised because of his expulsion.
- “These young people, one of the most diverse districts being silenced because they’re upset that we don’t fall in line to their narrative of what Tennessee should be and that is a multiracial democracy,” he said.
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Expelled Tennessee Lawmaker I Was Voted Out For Being ‘An Uppity Negro’
Protesters gather outside the state Capitol Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., to demand gun law reform and to support three House Democrats up for expulsion for using a bullhorn to shout support for pro-gun control protesters in the House chamber. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
