American Vice President Kamala Harris has spoken out after two Black lawmakers were expelled for dissenting against lax gun laws. Republican lawmakers ousted the two Democratic Representatives Justin Pearson and Justin Jones for protesting in the State General Assembly in Tennessee. The third protesting Representative, Gloria Johnson, was let off as she was White.
Speaking at Fisk University, Kamala Harris said that the three Representatives had only been guiding the voices of those they represent during the protest last week. The Vice President said that the voice of the people should not be silenced in a democracy. She said that their voices should not be stifled not their mike turned off, especially when they speak about the value of liberty and life.
Republican lawmakers tried to maintain that the expulsion was not along racial lines though their arguments fell flat. The Democrats alleged that the Republicans were attempting a power grab by silencing the two youngest Representatives.
Kamala Harris Has Spearheaded Widespread Condemnation Of The Expulsion
The action of the Republicans has drawn widespread condemnation from Democrats across the country. President Biden has called the expulsions shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.
Kamala Harris’s visit to Tennessee was unscheduled. It came a day after President Biden held a conference call with the Democratic Representatives. He said that he thanked them for their courage and resolute leadership in the face of blatant injustice.
The Republicans claim that they were not influenced by the ethnicity of the members while dismissing the two members while deciding against expelling the third. They said that Johnson did not shout and did not bring a microphone into the House.
But while legislators had earlier got away with far more severe acts in the House and were not punished. Kamala Harris and the President both have called for a ban on assault weapons while advocating for reasonable gun control laws. She said that both of them can and should be done.
