Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones (D) introduced two resolutions in the House on Monday, both congratulating Nashville-area musicians on their first Grammy awards the week before.
One went to Paramore, a Tennessee-based emo-pop band that won Grammys for best rock album and best alternative music performance. The other was for Allison Russell, a folk musician who won the Grammy for Best American Roots Performance.
The resolutions were so perfunctory that they were added to the chamber's consent calendar, a grouping of non-controversial bills that lawmakers pass en masse.
But Rep. Jeremy Faison (R) had a problem with one of them. With one objection, he removed the resolution honoring Russell from the consent calendar, while he did not do the same for the resolution honoring Paramore. Jones responded that singling out Russell, who is black, was a “shameful” example of “Jim Crow thinking.” Paramore, whose members are white, dismissed Faison's objection as “blatant racism.”
In a statement from the Tennessee House Republican Caucus, Faison said that as a member of Republican leadership, he had been approached by several members with questions about Russell, “which made it appropriate for us to pause on this particular resolution.”
Faison and Jennifer Easton, a House Republican spokeswoman, did not respond to requests for comment on the issues raised by the group.
Russell said in an interview with The Washington Post that the objection to her recognition was reminiscent of the controversy that erupted in the Legislature last year when Jones and two other lawmakers faced expulsion for attending a gun control demonstration. The two black members of the trio that became known as the “Tennessee Three” — Jones and Rep. Justin J. Pearson (D) — were expelled, while the group's white member survived the attempt to oust them. Jones and Pearson regained their seats in an election later in the year.
Jones addressed the latest incident in the House of Representatives on Monday.
“It is shameful that in a month when we honor Black voices and history, this body would want to repeat this type of Jim Crow thinking rooted in a legacy of racism,” Jones told The Post .
Although the resolution focused on Russell's Grammy win, her music is connected to her political activism, she said. In recent years, she has been an outspoken critic of Republican lawmakers in Tennessee, including their efforts to expel the Tennessee Three as well as pass laws targeting LGBTQ+ rights and banning drag shows. When such laws were passed, Russell organized the Love Rising benefit concert in Nashville in March, which featured more than a dozen artists, including herself, Williams, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell, Hozier and Mya Byrne.
Williams said she felt compelled to organize the concert to combat what she called “legislative terrorism.”
Russell, who moved to Nashville seven years ago, only learned of Jones' decision after the controversy broke out. She said it was clear why Faison blocked passage of the resolution and his Republican colleagues joined him in sending it to a committee rather than discussing it on the House floor.
Hardly anyone would have noticed Russell's legislative honor — such an honor is routinely given to Tennesseans who have won professional awards such as teacher or fire chief of the year — had he passed. Through the blockade, Faison has brought Russell and her music into the spotlight, Russell said.
“They’ve just succeeded in amplifying our voices tremendously,” she said.
Other artists have gathered around Russell. On Friday, Paramore declined “any recognition or honor” from the Tennessee House of Representatives until Russell is given the same honor. In a statement to The Post, Paramore singer Hayley Williams praised Russell as an “incredibly talented musician and songwriter” whose music is deeply rooted in folk and Americana, yet spans genres.
Russell is also “a brilliant black woman,” she added.
“The blatant racism of our government is embarrassing and cruel,” Williams said.
At the end of Monday's meeting, Jones, the representative who introduced the resolutions honoring Russell and Paramore, tried to alert his colleagues to the former's blockade.
“Black History Month happens every day, and just a few minutes ago there was a resolution to honor someone making black history,” he said, before House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) interrupted him and said the time should be used for announcements, not to participate in the debate.
“The announcement is to say that there are people in our midst who are making Black history, and I want to honor them this Black History Month, including those here in Nashville and in our state of Tennessee who are each making Black history.” Day and deserve to be honored.
“I want to make it known that it is concerning that this body would choose to denigrate or -” he said before Sexton turned off his microphone, apologized and moved on.