A progressive social justice warrior-community organizer has labeled the entire State of Tennessee as racist with the aid of The Tennessean, which ran her ranting op-ed Wednesday.
Aftyn Behn describes herself as the statewide organizer of Indivisible for Tennessee and Kentucky. Her op-ed blaming the state – especially the General Assembly – for a host of social ills is available here.
She says,
Let me be clear: Tennessee is a racist state. Racism is in the air we breathe, permeating the State Capitol, codified in the legislation being passed at the detriment of women, communities of color, and the working poor.
Our problem with racism in this state is wild and untamed, and Justin Jones has turned a mirror to the legislature and the gubernatorial administration, inviting them to look inward and prompt introspection towards their ideologically destructive agendas.
Lawmakers are responsible for rising black maternity rates, not allowing ex-felons to vote and is “the motivation behind undermining years of tireless organizing efforts from women of color to pass Nashville’s Community Oversight Board,” among other social ills, she said. Not expanding Medicaid is also a part of her complaint.
The Tennessee Star has reported on Justin Jones, who allegedly threw coffee at Tennessee Speaker of the House Glen Casada.
This begs the question, who is Behn and what is Indivisible?
Indivisible seems to be a decentralized progressive grassroots network. There are multiple national and state websites and Facebook pages.
One Indivisible Facebook page says, “Leading the resistance.”
One website says:
“Too much time is taken up debating big government versus small government, but what we need to be discussing is how our government works well when it is working for US—the American people—and when it fails to do so, how WE correct it.
So let’s do it. Indivisible is working to inspire a cultural shift in how Americans think about the role of government in America by training the next generation of civic-minded leaders, disrupting and reframing negative media discourse about government, and creating a network of champions to change the conversation about government in their communities.
According to a biography on a story Behn wrote for The Daily Yonder castigating President Donald Trump for making cuts to Obamacare, the Knoxville native previously worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Switzerland.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Photo “Aftyn Behn” by Aftyn Behn. Background Photo “Tennessean Op-Ed” by the Tennessean.
WOW! I just reread this article…it said, “Aftyn Behn describes herself as the statewide organizer of ” Indivisible” for Tennessee and Kentucky.” I just looked up their site. It says, “A Practical Guide to Resist The Tump Agenda”. Ahhh….this group is organized and they are working hand in hand with MoveOn.org. That should tell you everything…do your research. A year ago I read on their site that they were using the “players book” from the Tea Party in their organization of their group. Do the Conservatives in our State and Nation have a plan of organization? If they do, they are certainly keeping it hush hush. :O)
Most of these comments just prove Ms Behn’s point. What a hateful group of citizens and legislators claiming to be pro-life. I wish all the people that care about anyone besides themselves could move . They could leave you to your guns, statues, low taxes, minimal government and self righteous, selfish, “Christian” attitudes
To the left, everyone, every institution and even every thing is “racist.” The word so overused it no longer has any meaning, but people continue to react defensively when called racist. They are going to call you racist no matter what you do, just because of who you are. As long as we continue to backpedal in earnest every time they use the term, they will continue. You hold the power to stop this nonsense, because nonsense it what it is.
The voters and state legislature of Tennessee are not racist. Just because they do not believe in the liberal democrat social justice poppycock does not mean they are racists. Ms. Behn can say a possum is a armadillo but that does not make it so. If she is sick and tired of being tired, I am equally sick and tired of hearing about social justice, white privilege, etc.
And for the record, Ms. Behn, you need to brush up on your history. Nathan Bedford Forrest did not found the KKK, five ex-confederates from Pulaski, TN did.
Thank You! It’s time we spot light “Indivisible’. Please everyone, Google Indivisible. Oh it’s so enlightening (unless they have gone undercover). They have Little groups all over the nation who are probably backed by Soros money and their main purpose is to take down our President. One of their goals also, is to put “their people” in local and county government and on the school board. Some of our cities in TN have groups. Perhaps Strong Schools and Williamson Strong is connected to Indivisible, both take a strong liberal stance.
SJW’s are utterly corrupt hypocrites who destroy everything that they touch for their own selfish ambitions of notoriety and smugness.
Why is she upset about rising African American maternity rates? She should elaborate because at face value, she sounds pretty racist herself a la Margaret Sanger
We all know who the real racists are. Democrats.
Afiyn Behn is simply another America hating leftist. When her op-ed is read through this prism
it all makes sense. A leftist is a leftist first above anything else.
Then move, dingbat.
You know, I don’t see the State government forcing black women to get pregnant. If the Legislature is responsible for an increase in black maternity rates, it is because the state incentivizes it. (By the way, are we talking teenaged pregnancies, illegitimate pregnancies, unwanted pregnancies, or just regular population growth?)
Let’s get another thing straight. That “civilian oversight board” is part of a much larger organized movement to undermine the authority of the local LEOs. I think the proper term is “Astroturf”, meaning it looks like a grassroots movement, but it isn’t really one.
If there is a stench of racism in Tennessee’s air, it is not one of “white supremacy”, but rather what I call “Black Inferiority”. The latter implies that we need to be helping minorities because we have so badly “held them down” in the past, and they naturally lack the ability to compete with the majority on a level playing field. I know a few “ladies of color” that’d be really offended at that!
The best way government can work for us is for it to step back and allow us the freedom to do what we do. It is not the government’s role to dictate a set of ethics by which we do our business, and it certainly isn’t to force us to waste resources to prop up those that refuse to help themselves.
LET ME BE CLEAR, THE TENNESSEAN HAS BECOME A FAR LEFT WING PROPAGANDA PAPER. I PAID FOR THE PAPER FOR 52 YEARS. QUIT WHEN THEY STARTED PUTTING STORIES COVERED AS NEWS THAT WERE NOTHING MORE THAN OPINION . THEY WOULD PUT A VERY SMALL HEADING OF ANALYSIS. AT THAT POINT THEY ARE NO LONGER A NEWSPAPER.
WE CANNOT JUST SIT BY IN THE NAME OF NOT OFFENDING ANYONE AND LET THIS TYPE OF THING GO UNANSWERED. THIS IS HOW WE GOT HERE TO BEGIN WITH.