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Article published In: Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 25:3 (2026) ► pp.383–404

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The Tennessee three

Mapping the discursive boundaries of inequality in statehouse political debate

ORCiD logo with link | Boston College
Published online: 30 April 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24090.mck
Abstract
This paper explores dominance as expressed in discourse during political debate in a U.S. state legislative chamber with a Republican supermajority. In particular, I map the discursive strategies used in the Tennessee legislature during the expulsion hearings of three Democratic lawmakers in the Tennessee General Assembly on April 6, 2023. Using discourse analysis, I explore how boundaries of power, race, and protest unfold discursively across 6 hours of political debate between supermajority Republicans and minority Democrats. Although the paper offers only a snapshot of the lawmakers’ framing strategies, the study demonstrates that the Black legislators who were expelled from the Tennessee House were linguistically and rhetorically positioned to be deemed worthy of excessive punishment. The findings suggest that forwarding racism and inequality through discourse is one of many facets of the radical right-wing, global movement, and it was reified in the Tennessee Legislature in 2023.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Context of the study
  • 3.Literature review
    • 3.1School shootings and gun violence
    • 3.2Democratic backsliding
    • 3.3Racism and its discourses
  • 4.Rationale and theoretical framework
  • 5.Methodology
  • 6.Findings
    • 6.1Framing and counter-framing
      • 6.1.1Dangerous, disorderly and disruptive Black People
      • 6.1.2Insubordinate/Uppity/Ungrateful Black People
      • 6.1.3Condescension towards Black People
      • 6.1.4Punitive Excess Towards Black People
    • 6.2The power behind the language: Anti-democratic maneuvers
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
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