A day after the Memphis City Council voted with near unanimity to ask a gubernatorial veto of legislation banning the teaching of critical race theory in Tennessee schools, the Shelby County Commission climaxed a spirited committee session on the matter with a similar vote.
The Commission mustered 10 votes with one abstention to seek a veto from Governor Bill Lee of the controversial measure, SB623/HB50, which was passed on the last day of the late legislative session. The Council’s vote on Tuesday had been 11-0 with a single abstention, that of Councilman Worth Morgan.
The Commission’s committee vote was technically a recommendation, and the matter will be voted on again by the body at its regularly scheduled public meeting on Monday.
The Commission is composed of seven black members and six white members, but its members, unlike the Council’s, are elected by partisan vote. The import of that is that, with the exception of Republican member Brandon Morrison, who abstained, the Democrats on the Commission were joined in their opposition to the measure by the Republicans present, members of Lee’s party. Two Republicans, however, Amber Mills and David Bradford, were absent.
A source in Nashville confirmed that the bill has been forwarded to the Governor for his signature but, as of Thursday morning, had not been acted upon.
There was a bit of a see-saw effect in the Commission’s discussion of the measure, with some members, notably Republicans Mark Billingsley and Mick Wright, initially seeking more time to review the legislation but ultimately acquiescing in an immediate vote after Democratic members Van Turner and Tami Sawyer strongly insisted on one.
Faced with a motion to postpone voting, pending such a review, until later in Wednesday’s committee sessions, Sawyer called proposals for a delayed vote “B.S.” and said she would respond by seeking similar delays on routine matters. “If this passes, I’m also going to send for us to delay the vote on the resolution approving notary publics. Every week, when we vote on property, then we’ll need a full copy printed with all of the detail of the properties. … So let’s prepare for a long day. If this objection holds, we’ll be objecting on that. Because right is right. You’ve heard our testimony. [The bill] has been in the news for weeks.”
The most controversial aspect of the bill is in an amendment that prohibits schools’ focusing on “impartial” facts of America’s racial history. As state Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) had said in enunciating the central point of the amendment, “‘Critical race theory’ holds that the rule of law does not exist but instead is a struggle of power relationships between races and groups.” Similarly, Kelsey had condemned the postulate that American history should be dated from 1619, when slaves were first imported into the continent.
The consensus of Wednesday’s discussion by Commission members was that ignoble facts of racial history in America should be openly and honestly treated, not covered up.
Republican Wright said, toward the close of discussion, “This resolution before us has caused me to take a closer look at the bill. And to the question. And, you know, I think this is probably something that on the face of it, my my constituents would not be happy by joining you today. But I’m going to, because I’ve listened to you. Thank you.”
