Good Morning Tennessee
This morning Tennesseans may have been surprised to see our State Legislature featured as the lead-in story on all the major morning news programs as two Democratic lawmakers were expelled from their offices after leading a protest on the floor of the legislature regarding gun reform following the Nashville murders a few weeks ago. Rhetoric on both sides of aisle has been severely ramped up, especially given the fact that only the two black lawmakers were expelled, with Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, a white lawmaker, receiving enough votes to keep her in office after committing the same disruptions on the floor.
It’s not the kind of news any of us want to wake up to, but another reminder of how we’ve lost our way when it comes to both communicating reasonably and empathetically with each other, and how votes and rulings too often arise from places of bias, isolation, and assumptions about each other.
For example, last night I was at the table with a group of heavily left-leaning friends, all of whom agreed that some form of disciplinary action was probably in order, but all of whom felt like the supermajority on the House floor controlled the agenda to the point where acting out was perhaps the only way to be heard. One of their primary complaints, outside of the unprecedented vote to strip thousands of voters of their appointed representatives, was the reality that many of these same lawmakers seemingly had no issue with thousands of people storming the Congressional floor on January 6th, or even supporting the removal of George Santos, who lied his way to office last year.
And yet, on the other side of the aisle, I know many conservatives who actually want Santos removed, and who vehemently oppose what we all witnessed on January 6th. The assumptions that circulate between us, rooted in segregated media and information biases, only help fuel the differences between us.
I feel relatively sure that most Tennesseans, both on the Left and the Right, believe the vote to remove these two young black men from office carries a degree injustice within it…. even if, those representing us, do not. And I believe that most Tennesseans recognize the blatant inequality of removing the two people of color, while voting to retain the white lawmaker from Knoxville.
As our initiative here in Oak Ridge continues, we will be having deep conversations about how to regain our sense of pride as Tennesseans who are reasonable, empathetic, and open to listening to each other. By the time we finish our racial bridging supper series this fall, we will be well into the beginnings of the 2024 election cycle and the need for healthy discourse will be at a premium.
Stay connected to Oak Ridge Periodic Tables, the events we will be hosting, and our movement to restore reason, ethics, hope, and love to our fragmented culture!
Healing Starts Right Here!
Blessings,
David