Nashville – Democratic leaders point to insulting comments made by two Republican lawmakers to the Legislature’s black caucus in calling for legislators to undergo diversity and sensitivity training.
State Sen. Jim Summerville of Dickson has been criticized for an email he sent earlier this month to the chairman of the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators saying: “I don’t give a rat’s ass what the black caucus thinks.”
His Republican colleague, Stacey Campfield of Knoxville, has supported the comment and even called the black caucus a “segregationist organization” that should be ignored.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle of Memphis said he believes lawmakers would benefit from some type of sensitivity session, even if it means incorporating it into the mandatory ethics training.
“I mean, it is somewhat unethical to be offensive,” he said. “Perhaps we need to make that part of our ethics training every two years.”
Frank Dobson, director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University, said the lawmakers’ offensive comments are part of what he calls the “racial divide” and that the training sessions may help to some degree.
“There’s still much work to be done in terms of healing, understanding and educating,” he said.