UPDATE: The Tennessee Star has retrieved the video – see more details here.
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The newly elected state representative for Tennessee’s 91st district livestreamed a 15-minute rant on Facebook Wednesday and, said, among other things, Tennessee is a racist state and full of uneducated Republicans.
That newly-elected representative, London Lamar, a Democrat from Memphis, also reprimanded white men for wanting to keep more of the money they earn.
Lamar also suggested allowing felons to vote will help elect more Democrats.
“Looking here at Tennessee, let’s just call a spade a spade,” Lamar said in the video.
“Tennessee is racist, period. Period. And if you for one moment thought that white people in Tennessee were going to leave their own to jump over here and give us more access, they just told you last night it’s not happening.”
Lamar said her video was also “a letter to all our statewide political consultants and candidates.” She warned against “catering to Republicans.”
“If we look at some of the numbers last night, white men voted Republican well over 60 or 70 percent,” Lamar said.
“Obviously, that is a particular base of people who believe in superiority. They don’t believe in sharing their wealth. They don’t believe in sharing resources. They believe that you need to work for your own, and they went to the polls and voted.”
Over half of Tennessee’s white women, Lamar went on to say, voted against their own interests Tuesday by helping elect Marsha Blackburn to the U.S. Senate.
Lamar then faulted Republican Gov.-Elect Bill Lee for supporting school vouchers and not wanting to expand Medicaid.
“Most of the Tennesseans who voted Republican are uneducated, so they don’t even know that they went to the polls to vote against their own interests,” Lamar said.
“They literally voted on color lines. In Tennessee, we voted based on race. Not that any of our statewide candidates were black or a minority. It was the fact that they were going to support issues to help uplift the minority community and that is what they voted against.”
Lamar then called upon the black community to start organizing.
“These people — I don’t want to say these white people — in Tennessee have voted against you and not just a little bit but by a lot of bit. Who is your real enemy here?” Lamar asked.
“This is no different than 1968. The only difference is they can’t necessarily hang us by a noose or outwardly kick us out of restaurants, but they are still exercising their right to vote and they are still supporting candidates that openly express they will oppress our communities.”
Lamar then said “right-wing crazies” have replaced moderate Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly.
Lamar then referenced Florida, where, this week, voters passed Amendment Four, which, according to Ballotpedia, will restore voting rights for people with prior felony convictions. The amendment exempts those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole, and probation.
Lamar tied this in to Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
“What if that amendment had passed, and all of those felons had a chance to vote for Gillum?” Lamar asked.
“He would probably be governor. That’s a clear example of a voter suppression tactic.”
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
[…] Speaker Casada was Representative London Lamar (D-Memphis), who The Star initially reported on for calling Tennesseans racists and uneducated and then later for campaign reporting violations for which she was granted leniency from the […]
This is so not true about Tennessee . This is just not right.
Ms. Lamar is correct on all points but one. There is no fault in demanding that people work for what they want. Aside from that, she is spot on.
She says that Florida’s previous law whereby felons lost the right to vote was racist? Well, it was put in place back in 1838, when blacks could not vote and indians likewise were not considered citizens. It could only affect whites. So it was hardly racist.
[…] As reported, on the video, Lamar, among other things, reprimanded white men for wanting to keep more of the money they earn. Lamar also suggested allowing felons to vote will help elect more Democrats. […]
[…] As reported, Lamar livestreamed those controversial comments on her Facebook page last week. She removed the video a few days later, but only after The Tennessee Star broke the story last weekend. The story has since gone viral worldwide. […]
If Carol Swaim had qualified to run in Dist 91 instead of Ms Lamar, I would have voted for Swaim – not because of the color of her skin, but the content of her character. Ms Lamar was elected in her district – not because of the quality of her character, but b/c she was black, like the majority of Dist 91 voters, and they were promised free goodies from the government till. Period. Now, which scenario is racist, irresponsible, ignorant, covetous, and greedily materialistic? Do they even understand MLK’s philosophy? Will they ever be freed from Uncle Sam’s plantation with this dependence mentality? Liberty requires responsibility. Captivity is the easy way out.
The only bigot I see is her!
She said all the whites voted the color line, so they are racist, is that notwhat most blacks did for Obama, vote the color line? So that would make them all racist.
Blacks standing up for their race are called “activist”. Whites standing up for their race are “racists”. Very simple.
“Obviously, that is a particular base of people who believe in superiority. They don’t believe in sharing their wealth. They don’t believe in sharing resources. They believe that you need to work for your own, and they went to the polls and voted.”
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Geez, she said all that like it’s a BAD thing!
Here’s some “RACIST” information, if London Lamar were WHITE, she would have LOST the election!