I’ve been writing “Democracy is On the Line” for a couple of years now, and as of last night, democracy has fallen in Tennessee.
What does it mean for democracy to have failed? Put most simply, I believe it means that the system has been corrupted enough that the citizenry expressing their will through elections no longer leads to the representation and change they are clearly voting for.
There are many un-democratic features baked in to our system, such as the existence of the Electoral college, and the US Senate having 2 seats for each state regardless of population. Then there are more overt, possibly illegal or unconstitutional un-democratic actions going on, such as gerrymandering and voter suppression.
The outrageous, overtly racist actions of the Tennessee state legislature went even beyond that yesterday: Republicans by 2/3 vote expelled two young Black men who are elected representatives. The legislative body did not kick out the white woman rep, Gloria Johnson, who did exactly the same thing: joining their constituents in an anti-gun violence protest gun soon after the elementary-school massacre that killed three children and three adults in Nashville. It would also have been wrong to expel Ms. Johnson, but the blatant racism is there for all to see.
Kicking out these newly-elected legislators is taking away the representation voted for by about 140,000 citizens. Their expulsion lacked due process, precedent and proportionality. It lacked any sense of justice or even common sense. I hope that Justin Jones and Justin Pearson are able to sue to get this overturned. The over-reach of the Tennessee legislature will come back to bite them. They could not just stay contentu using their super-majority to pass whatever laws they wanted. The legislators had to try to publicly humiliate the two young Black men, practically calling them “uppity Negros.” I say try to humiliate, because overnight, Jones and Pearson have become nationally-respected political heroes.
The GOP power grabs are getting brazen in other place as well. In Wisconsin, not only was newly-elected Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s opponent extremely ungracious about his loss, but Republicans immediately called her her impeachment.
In Texas, a bill has been filed to ban voting locations on college campuses, supposedly due to “safety.” Yeah right.
The defection of Rep Tricia Cotham here in NC is similarly un-democratic. She was elected just 5 months ago as a Democrat, in a strongly-Democratic district. Now by switching her affiliation to Republican, she is depriving her voters of the kind of representation they elected her for, and is creating a Republican super-majority that could lead to abortion restrictions, curtailing of civil rights and more. GOP lawmakers introduced 6 new bills this week targeting transgender people for discrimination and harassment. These bills are cruel, un-necessary, and risk everyone’s civil rights as they give legitimacy to hate. This makes me ashamed of my home state. I will never forget or forgive Tricia Cotham for what she is doing this week.
When people say that authoritarianism and autocracy are on the rise in the USA, it is literally true.
It pains me to think about Democrats refusing to expel someone like Marjoire Taylor Greene with the logic that then Republicans might abuse that power. They are already abusing their power no matter what. I don’t want Democrats to resort to unethical means at all, but we need to be willing to fight harder. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: right now our national self-defense is failing.
My advice is to take a day, or this weekend, to center yourself. Get yourself into a good mindset, the best you can: feeling centered, strong, confident. What values and issues do you care about most? What are you willing to speak up about, to defend? Then get busy doing it. There are organizations across North Carolina who would love your help, who can benefit from your time, treasure and expertise.
If I could make one wish for North Carolina right now, I would make sure that college students are registered properly, so their votes count. I know of too many young people who voted provisional ballots on election day 2022, not realizing that their ballot was very unlikely to actually count. The Millennials and beyond are going to have a whole lot to clean up. I believe in them, people like Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. We need to support the young people in our state, and make sure that whatever obstacles are thrown in their way, their votes count. (One big solution: encourage young people to vote at One-Stop Early Voting when they can still register right then, or update their registration. In NC, you can do this at Early Voting but not on “Election Day,” which is what led to many provisional ballots being cast.)
You could of course say this about so many voting groups: listening to Black voters, working closely with their communities, having them in political leadership, and not taking their votes for granted. Mobilizing people who care about reproductive rights. Contacting people who care about a healthy environment. Getting family-friendly policies passed. Supporting the LGBTQ+ community. College student registration and turnout is what is happening in my neighborhood. What is happening in your precinct? What do your friends and family care about? Get involved!
The authoritarians are counting on grinding us down with constant chaos and bad news, trying to make us give up and stop caring. Don’t let the bastards wear you down.
Hey Amy---I'd say these students in TN got it exactly right: https://tinyurl.com/2p964sh7
Thanks for all you do!