To the Editor:
Re “2 Democrats Expelled in Tennessee Power Play” (news article, April 7):
I grew up in Tennessee, went to Friday night football games, ate catfish and hush puppies. One great-great-grandfather fought in Morgan’s Raid against the Union. A great-grandfather was in the legislature and voted against women’s suffrage. For good, for bad, Tennessee was my home state.
Which I now don’t recognize. Our 28-year-old daughter just moved to Nashville for a job. She had fond memories of visiting my family in Gallatin as a little girl. But she knew things had changed when she was in a local Starbucks and saw a guy walk in with a Glock stuck in his pants.
And now she sees the Tennessee House expelling two Black members — only the Black members — for daring to raise their voices for stricter gun laws. She saw a legislature whose priority is racist political punishment, not the bullets that exploded in six people last week.
This will never be my daughter’s state. And I don’t think it’s mine anymore either.
Beth Potter
Harrington Park, N.J.
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To the Editor:
During President Biden’s State of the Union speech, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert repeatedly interrupted him, with Ms. Greene screaming, “Liar!” Both women are still members of Congress.
But let two Black representatives in Tennessee protest the lack of gun control legislation after children were massacred, and they are thrown out of office by the Republicans. The white female legislator was allowed to keep her seat.
What a travesty! What a terrible place this country has come to!
Barbara Barran
Brooklyn
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To the Editor:
Re “As Young People March for Their Lives, Tennessee Crushes Dissent and Overrides Democracy,” by Margaret Renkl (Opinion guest essay, nytimes.com, April 5):
As a 67-year-old lifelong resident of Tennessee, I would like to assure Americans that the horror of what is happening now in our state does not reflect the attitudes and beliefs of everyone here (as evidenced by the thoughtful and persuasive writing of Ms. Renkl).
The tyranny of the majority is on full display as the legislature runs roughshod over the moderate and far left while approximately 35 to 40 percent of the citizens of our state regularly vote against the right-wing candidates, proposals and mandates.
The supermajority in the state house has silenced those voices by gerrymandering, enacting oppressive laws in the name of religious dogma, and now expelling duly elected representatives.
Perhaps it is naïve to look for fairness in politics, but we certainly can demand that our voices at least be heard. We hope for justice to prevail through the checks and balances in our systems. Otherwise, we are silenced, frustrated, discouraged and angry.
Wesley H. Roberts
Pegram, Tenn.
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