News Channel 5: “Race relations have become so strained in the Tennessee General Assembly that a simple resolution to honor an elderly civil rights leader sparked controversy earlier this year, as Republicans in power insisted it had to be amended to eliminate any reference to “oppressed people.”…
Faison had an amendment to remove any reference to “oppressed” people, which Jones explained as he presented his resolution.
“My friend Rep. Faison said it was because some members don’t believe there is such a thing as oppressed people,” the Nashville Democrat said.
Asked by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Faison did not dispute Jones’ characterization.
“There are plenty of us in Tennessee who don’t believe anybody is oppressed in America anymore,” the Republican leader argued.
He explained his colleagues’ negative reaction to the resolution.
“They saw a resolution that someone is oppressed today.”
NewsChannel 5 Investigates noted that the original resolution only referred to “oppressed groups” in the past tense.
Faison’s explanation?
“I don’t think that people actually read the whole resolution. They just saw the beginning.”
House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, also went along with those concerned about the language in Jones’ resolution.
“I thought their argument was good — so I supported that,” Lamberth told NewsChannel 5 Investigates.
We noted that: “You had the Bull Connors of the world who turned dogs and fire hoses on Black protesters. You had the Freedom Riders who were beaten up. You had the little girls killed in church bombings. You had civil rights workers killed for pushing voting rights.”
Why is it so controversial to say Black people were oppressed?
“Oh, I don’t think that’s controversial at all — it is a horrible part of our history,” Lamberth responded.
We noted, “But it was stripped out of this resolution.”
“Again, the more modern tense word of that,” Lamberth continued. “I would hope in the last 50 years we’ve made some sort of progress in this nation.”
Lamberth acknowledged after the interview that he too mistakenly believed that the resolution referred to people being oppressed today.”