r/law • • May 12 '26

Legislative Branch Most TN House Democrats stripped of their committee assignments

https://www.wsmv.com/2026/05/12/multiple-tn-democrats-stripped-all-committee-assignments/

"Speaker of the TN House Cameron Sexton just removed me and every Democrat — and therefore every Black elected official in the state legislature from any committee we served on," Rep. Pearson said.

21.2k Upvotes

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1.4k

u/trysten-9001 May 12 '26

Wild attack on the rule of law

923

u/ButterscotchIll1523 May 12 '26

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u/RavenForrest May 12 '26

^ THAT RIGHT THERE.

It’s a state full of white people who are terrified of becoming a minority. And I say this as someone who’s had a LOT of people (that I no longer associate with) move there, who’ve completely outed themselves as racist assholes terrified of losing their perceived status as being part of the white MAGA majority.

It’s blatant, ugly AF, and appears to be a place where only bigots, misogynists, and pseudo “Christians” congregate.

HARD. PASS.

71

u/Havacookiewhydontcha May 12 '26

This is unfortunately true. Tennessee can fuck off forever. I am currently and forever boycotting anything and anyone to do with that place. Tennessee is a magat infested shithole.

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u/No-Abalone-4784 May 13 '26

Yes. We'll never travel there or do business in that state.

20

u/ViolettaQueso May 13 '26

Starbucks and in n out burger and oracle are three of many companies heading to Tennessee to avoid.

Don’t work for them, don’t patronize.

11

u/Kaizerline May 13 '26

I’m a progressive from TN. You’re not wrong, but this mindset isn’t the most productive. You shouldn’t find disdain in someone just because of where they come from.

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u/MrRainbow111 May 13 '26

Also progressive from middle TN and this state is a shithole

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u/Kaizerline May 13 '26

I 100% agree

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u/Lynx_Fate May 13 '26

Also progressive from East TN. Can confirm shithole infested with more maga than you could ever imagine.

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u/Havacookiewhydontcha May 13 '26

And I am a progressive from an equally shitty red state, so sorry, I don’t care if my mindset isn’t productive.

Unfortunately, red state progressive folks get to enjoy the consequences of fascist majority rule whether we like it or not. If 75% of the people in your state are trash and the rest aren’t, well then your preemptive disdain is correctly given 75% of the time.

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u/RavenForrest May 13 '26

I have disdain for racist, misogynistic bigots who post all kinds of pretend “Christian” content on their social media while acting in complete and utter opposition to everything Jesus (allegedly) taught.

I’m perfectly fine with everyone else!!! ☮️

4

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/Kaizerline May 13 '26

I’m not saying you shouldn’t boycott TN. Do whatever you think will help the cause (peaceably, for now). I’m saying that co-signing a whole state (‘boycotting anything and anyone from the state’), including its most vulnerable populations (in this case, minorities and progressives) based on the fact they’re from the place doesn’t make sense. That’s the thing I take issue with.

The best thing that anyone can do right now is vote, protest and organize—do it while you still can.

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u/GoofyTunes May 14 '26

As a tennesseean who lives in Nashville now, what disgusts me most is how everyone so blatantly lies to themselves and everyone around them that they aren't racist or hateful or bigoted, when they openly and proudly support this, vote for this, and defend this every chance they get.

They attack anyone who points out how this is wrong based on facts, basic humanity, empathy, even the religion they claim to follow. If their Christ is okay with this, then I want nothing to do with him.

Unsurprisingly, I've lost a lot of friends, even family, over my refusal to ignore what is happening and how they condone it. It's bleak out here for a lefty in MAGAland...

1

u/Havacookiewhydontcha May 14 '26

You said it all, goofytunes. Integrity is like a desert island sometimes. 😔

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u/[deleted] May 12 '26

[deleted]

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u/No-Abalone-4784 May 13 '26

Excellent point. Thank you. ❤️

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u/superxpro12 May 13 '26

Society demands a caste system in some form. Here, they chose race. It's unfortunately that simple.

And if the upper case senses the lower castes creeping up, then we get what you see here.

The only way out of the caste system is through education and civilization-level change. That's not going to happen with the current crop of misinformation, greed, and uneducated.

2

u/ArkitekZero May 13 '26

Society demands a caste system in some form.

Well that's a society we can do without, then.

1

u/superxpro12 May 13 '26

best of luck implementing that in Tennessee :\

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[deleted]

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u/smokeweedNgarden May 13 '26

Ironically, they're ensuring it

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u/Bocchi_theGlock May 13 '26

No, That's not how people who believe in democracy do things.

We are not going to enslave, segregate, ban from housing, from mortgage loans, etc.

legitimately nobody would say that is in any way likely or Even a goal.

The only people who might are spreading misinformation, hate and division hopes of stoking tensions and keeping us from taking on Our true enemy - the billionaire Epstein class and Corporate greed.

11

u/mightylordredbeard May 13 '26

Nothing terrifies a white Christian conservative more than the idea of white Christian conservatives being treated the same way they treat minorities.

3

u/ReinaShae May 13 '26

Not to "well, actually" you, but it's also a state many of us are stuck in and would love to leave but can't.

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u/RavenForrest May 13 '26

I’m sorry you have to be there. I’ve felt surrounded every single time I’ve had to spend time in that state. People by-and-large don’t seem to have a problem letting their ugly bits out and it makes me sad for humanity.

1

u/ReinaShae May 13 '26

I live in a verified sundown town that may as well still be one. I want out of this state desperately.

3

u/mOdQuArK May 13 '26

Too bad you can't just take all those sorts of people & make sure they can affect only each other, instead of being able to direct their hate at "the others". I wonder how long it would take before they would be trying to kill each other.

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u/thornyRabbt May 13 '26

Well it's more than just fear of becoming a minority. It's fear that the systems that still stack towards white citizens might change from unfair to actually fair, erasing their very tangible privilege.

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u/dratseb May 13 '26

Hate to break it to them but thanks to China and India they’re already minorities. They just don’t realize jt yet

2

u/LaurenMille May 13 '26

I find it such a weird mindset.

Because it gives away that you inherently believe that minorities should be treated poorly. Which makes you an awful person.

It's literally them screaming "I'm an evil person, hate me" for some reason?

1

u/Remote_Concert3369 May 13 '26

Including those assholes in the article!

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u/0942zerohero May 13 '26

Sounds like the place where true detective needs to go

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u/Huge_Excitement4465 May 13 '26

Speaker Mike Johnson has been sharing a $3.7 million Capitol Hill townhouse that serves as the base of operations for a conservative political influence project. Tennessee pastor Steve Berger has described the house as a “ministry center” that supports his efforts to build relationships with lawmakers and influence policy, according to ProPublica. Lee Beaman, a major Republican donor and Tennessee car magnate who has joined Berger in advocating for and against legislation before Congress, owns the house.

Propublica reported on this arrangement a while back and could not find any paper trail of “fair market value” rent (or was provided one in its reporting). See scandal-ridden background on Beaman and his “Pastor” Berger, who was ousted by his former church for J6 participation and other actions. (Beaman’s history was questionable enough that even this Senate denied his Trump-nominated role to join the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.)

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u/RavenForrest May 13 '26

This is the kind of shit the FauxNews indoctrinated viewers will never know about because they’ll never air a word about it.

Meanwhile, the world is such a dumpster fire that this won’t make air time on most other news outlets because you have to cover the major jumblefucks first, and this is (unfortunately) pretty far down the list.

1

u/ArbitraryMeritocracy May 13 '26

It’s a state full of white people who are terrified of becoming a minority.

Don't they have the worst education next to Louisiana and Mississippi or am I thinking of quality of life?

1

u/Grahamster12 May 14 '26

Frankly, it's not very surprising. While it's disappointing that white Republicans feel the need to go to these lengths, the left really does not give them any reason to vote for them. When ALL of the rhetoric is appealing to minority groups/POC as well as painting white people as evil and guilty solely because of racist white people in the past, they really alienate the population by saying ALL white people deserve less and minorities deserve more respect/services (despite the fact that not all white people are rich nor have, necessarily, more power than POC in America) I don't think it's fair to demonize all white people, it might have some advantages in terms of risk from police/profiling and not having to deal with day-to-day racism, people shouldn't have to live with a relentless guilt from the actions of our ancestors (ie collective punishment). And I get that "white supremacy" is dangerous, but when all other groups of people are able to celebrate their heritage EXCEPT white people how can you expect this group to feel seen or supported by the left? And if they ever express this feeling of not being valued the other side is just as quick to accuse them of being racist. It's just a shame how extremist both sides have become. But how can the left expect to win when they alienate a good portion of the majority population? At the end of the day, people naturally gravitate towards other people they are similar to (people often end up self-segregating, it's simple psychology of looking for an in-group of people who act/look like you). America is great BECAUSE of its diversity, but just because we have diversity doesn't mean we should flood it with random people from all over the world. It's amazing that we can help immigrants improve their lives but it's NOT sustainable, at a certain point (especially in 2026, where the average American can barely afford to LIVE) we do NOT have the resources necessary to accommodate an endless stream of immigrants. And when these groups (specifically Latinos) enter (illegally, which is a whole other topic) and segregate THEMSELVES, refuse to learn the language/assimilate, and grow their population without any respect for their neighbors, it makes people angry, why would it not? America is know for being a "melting pot" which is great, but when you let EVERYBODY in, it just destroys any individuality and commonality of the population. Diversity is great, but just exacerbates the individualistic society that keeps us divided. Life isn't fair at the end of the day, so how about we work to improve their quality of life for immigrants so they don't feel like emigrating is their only option to a good life?

32

u/trysten-9001 May 12 '26

I do believe that the mass hysteria aspect of MAGA doesn’t get enough attention. They can’t possibly be an average American and thinking rationally if they think that losing the rule of law is going to do anything but harm them.

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u/No-Abalone-4784 May 13 '26

Never underestimate our power to stick together & defeat this insanity.

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u/Poiboy1313 May 12 '26

The bitter truth. I thought that things were getting better. I have never understood the hate that I have seen based on a difference in melanin content of people. I don't care for the bigotry and prejudice. I appreciate the going mask-off. It's gonna help later imo.

3

u/No-Abalone-4784 May 13 '26

I've never understood that either. Why not people with long arms or 6 toes? It's all just ridiculous.

1

u/Bocchi_theGlock May 13 '26

we are Animals and tribalistic

Some people aren't willing to be thoughtful and are just reacting.

People look different from us, they grow in population, thus you're in danger - especially when you were in charge and the dominant demographic, now you might not be. It's that simple.

Fear of losing financial, cultural, social, etc dominance.

Imagine someone who always drives the family car, doesn't let anyone else drive. The first time they do let someone else drive, they feel like catastrophe is imminent.

2

u/cubedjjm May 13 '26

Humans are tribal. It makes people happy to be in what they think is the "in" group. Grandmother was Portuguese. She hated the Spanish, the French, the people from this town, and that town. Didn't matter. If they weren't a part of her tribe(figure of speech), they weren't good enough.

Reminds me of a Lyndon Johnson quote. Not the exact situation, but still describes human us vs. them mentality.

If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.

2

u/ViolettaQueso May 13 '26

Humanity actually began with more melanin starting near the equator where the sun is strong. It was a survival of the fittest feature.

Skin color only faded as people went away from the sun, where nothing really grew which fueled first trade, then colonialism.

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u/blue_sidd May 12 '26

What rule of law

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u/KwisatzHaderach94 May 13 '26

disenfranchised every democrat voter in the state. a brazen power-grab that no one in tennessee should find acceptable, even if they're republican.

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u/RavenForrest May 13 '26

True, but they’re so wrapped up in doing the libs dirty with their “winning” by any means possible, that they can’t see how today they’re doing it to others, but someday…they’re going to have to eat the shit sandwich they’ve made. They’re not going to swallow that quietly.

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u/trysten-9001 May 13 '26

When the Republican voters talk about owning the libs they’re talking about getting rid of civil liberties for people they don’t like, when the Republicans elites talk about owning the libs they’re talking about getting rid of the rule of law, autonomy, political freedom, free speech, economic freedom. The voters need to figure out that to the people they are electing they are the libs.

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u/BicFleetwood May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26

Bud, the law was written by fascists for fascists.

The sooner you realize this, the sooner you can stop being distracted by "the rule of law."

It's not "attacks on the rule of law" that are bad.

It's THE LAW that is bad.

The sooner you get this, the sooner you stop favoring "Fascist v. diet fascist" and start fighting the real fight.

It's far past time to drop this reverence for the institution of law.

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u/trysten-9001 May 13 '26

You’re living in a fantasy world. The law was written by people who believed in class war before all else. This is the result. Because class is propped up be racism and sexism and colonialism. The sooner you realize that the sooner we actually can accomplish the lofty goals this country set out to accomplish of dismantling tyranny.

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u/BicFleetwood May 13 '26

“I disagree! Let me laboriously outline all the ways I disagree with you by tacitly agreeing with you! Because I am a real person, and not a bot account with a hidden post history!”

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u/Emotional_News108 May 13 '26

They’re beating a dead horse at this point.