State Rep. Gloria Johnson on Tennessee Three fight: 'I want people to know what’s going on'

Two weeks ago, Gloria Johnson was just another white woman in the Tennessee legislature, sliding in mostly unnoticed on her trips to Honeybee Coffee in West Knoxville, known by few besides her Knox County constituents and fellow lawmakers.

Today she is nationally known, catapulted into conversations happening coast to coast about race, defiance and power. She's the third in the Tennessee Three, an ally to fellow Democratic Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis, the young Black lawmakers who were expelled by Republicans over the trio's demonstration in the House of Representatives calling for gun reform.

This chapter in her story reads differently than her rising Black colleagues', who were reappointed this week just days after their expulsions. Johnson says she believes she survived the most serious sanctions because she's white, that it was the color of their skin that temporarily cost Jones and Pearson their positions.

And Johnson is talking about it.

As she navigates her newfound fame, catching flights from one interview to the next, including an appearance on "Good Morning America," she's taken a step back to take it all in.

What does it all mean?

In an exclusive interview with Knox News on April 11, she reflected on her new life after last week’s historic events, and what the political upheaval of the past weeks signals for the future of the Volunteer State.

Democracy dies in the dark

As a wave of younger generations experiences the unrelenting reality of gun violence, losing both classmates and friends to mass shootings and gun violence, they are determined to demonstrate and organize for change.

And they are resisting. Johnson says Republicans' calculated effort to silence dissenting voices like those of Jones and Pearson is crystal clear. Johnson says she is energized because new eyes are on Tennessee.

Here's what Johnson told Knox News about what she says were undemocratic forces at play in the expulsions.

“I love the fact that America was watching. There were TV stations from all over the country and world here watching how the Tennessee House runs over the minority.

"Democracy dies in the dark, and that's what's happening here. By silencing those dissenting voices, and by gerrymandering folks where we should have 45% of the House floor be Democrats, but because of gerrymandering, it's only 25%, and they can roll over us, not allow us to speak, ignore our voices, cut our mics and all of those things.

"In a democratic society, just because you have a supermajority, that should not be happening, but that's what they're doing here. And it's a very dangerous step.

"I don't understand why you are so concerned or afraid of what you're trying to do here that you've silenced the voices who want to make a point to debate or disagree with a particular bill or idea.

"When I bring my bills I am open to long and in-depth debates on them. I think that's what we should be doing in front of the people and not behind closed doors.

"And that's how you pass good legislation, you've vetted thoroughly with both parties.

"You know, up here, probably 80 to 85% of the time, we vote the exact same, both sides of the aisle vote the same on legislation. But there are some areas where we disagree, and they'd rather push that through. Cut off our mics. Limit debate. So they can just pass that by without thoroughly vetting it in front of the people. And that's a serious problem.”

'Racism is a difficult problem'

Johnson has not been silent about what she believes motivated Republicans to treat her two Black colleagues differently, and she said it spans far beyond what has been reported.

While many refuse to say racism drove the discipline of Jones and Pearson, Johnson doubled down doing just that, giving a hard yes to the question of whether race is the overwhelming reason she escaped expulsion while the two Black representatives were banished from the House.

Johnson knows the color of her skin grants her protection that Black Americans don’t get. It’s often the marginalized voices that get drowned out in the conversation, Johnson told Knox News.

“Racism is a difficult topic.

"Some people don't feel like they're being racist. But when you talk down to members, when you say well, you need to dress like us and act like us and be like us. That's racist. And people need to understand that.

"It is OK if you were recognizing your ancestors and you want to wear a formal dashiki instead of a suit and tie, that should be respected.

"And young people are so amazing, they're different. It's a different generation. And that's OK because every generation has its differences. But these fellas are so smart and so passionate about their community, and we need to welcome their voices. And we need the Tennessee state House of 99 people to look like any circle of 99 folks who would rap out in a community meeting, or you know, across the state and we need people that are representing the folks in every district and we need to hear those voices.

"It's not fair to the 70,000 people that sent someone here that their voices be shut down because someone doesn't like or agree with their representative. We were all elected in the same manner as every other member and every district has to admit it.”

‘I am going to speak out on gun reform absolutely every time’

The disorderly gun reform chants on the House floor by Johnson, Jones and Pearson that led to the proceedings to expel them don't deter Johnson. After three 9-year-olds and three adults were gunned down at The Covenant School in Nashville, just three days earlier, Johnson says she has to keep pushing.

With no regrets, she told Knox News. It’s for the children and the parents who drop their kids off at school each day in fear that their child might not come home.

“You know, just hold the pens, I am going to speak out on gun reform every time. And I would not have done anything differently because we knew that was the only opportunity to speak and let the folks outside the building both on the street and across the street on Legislative Plaza and in the rotunda and in the gallery. I want the people to know that we see you.

"We know this is a serious issue that we have to discuss. And we're here to make sure that we will have that discussion. And we will not forget about it. We won't leave you all just hanging and afraid for your families. We're going to continue to fight for this issue.

"We felt that message had to be imparted to those folks because we spent the morning before the session talking to them. I listened to so many mothers who had dropped their kids off at school that morning before they came to the Capitol and said, 'I'm afraid, I hope my child is safe and there when I go to pick them up.'

"You know it touched this community so deeply. And they're concerned for the kids and the idea that moms and dads are scared of dropping their kids off at school and kids are scared or wondering, 'Do we have a big enough closet to hide and where are we going to hide in our school?'

"Our kids are being traumatized.

"There's a whole generation of kids that are growing up, or have grown up, knowing there could be a shooting in their school and having to learn how to try to save themselves with that happens. That is traumatizing.

"And we have to do something because there are so many things that we could do. And instead, people want to send thoughts and prayers and people want to say, 'Well, it's not the time to talk about it.'

"It's past time to talk about it. If you wait one day to talk about it, another shooting happens. We just saw that with a horrible situation in Kentucky. Some of the Kentucky representatives have reached out to me. They want to have a conversation. We're gonna get together and have a conversation because we are all sick and tired of it.

"This is something I have always advocated for and I will continue to advocate for if I have a voice on a national stage, we'll deliver any message because we have to do something about gun violence in this country, the No. 1 killer of our children.”

‘If people aren’t watching, we start losing’

After the reappointment of Jones and Pearson back into their seats this week by local leaders in Nashville and Memphis, respectively, Johnson told Knox News that Tennesseans need to pay attention to what is going on in the legislature.

“I want people to know what’s going on, and I want the people out there to really pay attention to what's happening in this building, what happens on the floor and what happens in committees.

"The state has a really good website, the Tennessee General Assembly website. You can watch committees, and if there's a bill that you care about, you can watch it online, and then they stay on the website forever. They don't get removed.

"And you could always go back and review a bill and see what your representative said about it or see how they voted. It's all there.

"You can also go to the Tennessee campaign finance website and find out who's giving money to the people that you're voting for and how they're spending that money, that's really critical. You can go on so many members' campaign finance sites and see that not one individual or regular person donated to them. It is only lobbyists, corporations, and PACs.

"Those are the people that are working for it. Those are the people funding their campaigns. Those are the people they're working for.

"They're not working for the constituents, the reality is this supermajority up here. Eighty-one percent of Tennesseans want cannabis reform and they won't let it out of the subcommittee. Seventy-plus percent of Tennesseans want Medicaid expansion and they won't let it out of the subcommittee. Eighty-four percent want paid family leave and they're only doing it in a small way for a small segment of state employees.

"And we can have paid family leave for every Tennessean who works a 40-hour workweek. We can do better. The majority of Tennessee wants to raise wages. There might be a disagreement on how much you raise it. But the vast majority want to raise the wage. They are not voting with a majority of their constituents. They are listening to billionaires' special interests.

"I know it's tough to keep up and I try to keep people as informed as much as I can. But if people aren't watching, that's when we start losing or we start seeing democracy shredded and we've really got to pay attention to this because this is not just Tennessee. This can become a national thing and we need to be vigilant and protect our democracy, protect justice and protect freedom."

Angela Dennis is the Knox News social justice, race and equity reporter. Email angela.dennis@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AngeladWrites. Instagram @angeladenniswrites. Facebook at Angela Dennis Journalist.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Gloria Johnson urges voters to keep their eyes on Tennessee Capitol