Indian American lawmaker accuses expelled Black Tennessee Democrat of racism

On Fox News’ ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight’, Rep. Sabi ‘Doc’ Kumar says he had not experienced racism in America for 53 years.

Indian American lawmaker in the Tennessee House of Representatives Sabi “Doc” Kumar, who voted to expel two African Americans from the statehouse for staging a protest demanding strict gun-control laws, has accused one of the two Black legislators of hurling a racial slur at him.

Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled from the House on April 6 after they demonstrated calling for an assault weapon ban and other gun-control measures. A third Democrat, Representative Gloria Johnson, who is white, narrowly escaped the expulsion, raising concerns about race as the motivating factor for the ouster of the two Black lawmakers.

The three lawmakers took part in the protests on March 30 three days after a shootout in a Nashville suburb that claimed seven lives. A former student shot and killed six people, including three students and three teachers at the Christian Covenant School in the suburbs of Nashville on March 27. The shooter, a 28-year-old former student of the school, was shot and killed by police.

According to the Tennessean, “More than a 1,000 peaceful protestors rallied around Tennessee’s state Capitol” demanding “more restrictive gun laws” and many “made their way into the Capitol in a demonstration,” but no “demonstrators broke into the Capitol, no one was arrested or injured, and no property was damaged.”

But the house proceedings were halted “when three elected Democratic representatives stood at the podium with a bullhorn to lead protestors in the galleries in calls for gun reform,” the paper reported.

The expulsion created a nationwide storm, with top Democrats and civil rights leaders accusing Republicans of racism. “[The] expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest is shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent,” President Joe Biden said in a statement issued by the White House. “Rather than debating the merits of the issue, these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee.”

During the debate in the statehouse, Jones told Indian American Sabi “Doc” Kumar of putting “a brown face on white supremacy.”

Responding to Jones’ charge, Kumar said accused the Democrat of being a racist.  He said, “[I am an immigrant. Everybody knows I have been in this country for 53 years. I have never encountered a racial slur. I’m really not aware that any of that applies to me. I live a good life, yet you, on tape, called me a brown face.”

Kumar said Jones, who was “sitting a row or two ahead” of him, shoved his finger in his face and said, “Kumar, they will never accept you.”

The Indian American lawmaker said, “You said it twice. It is disappointing that you have insulted this body; you have insulted your colleagues, you have insulted … the House of Representatives in the state of Tennessee. You have insulted our speaker, you have personally insulted me.”

On Friday, Kumar went on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and doubled down on his attack on Jones.

Welcoming Kumar to the show, Carlson, the most watched prime-time host in the nation, said, “Representative Kumar… you said something poignant at the top. You said you’ve been in this country a long time and you’ve never experienced a racial slur until this week.”

Kumar responded, “That is true Tucker. I have been here for 53 years, and I have practiced surgery. I’ve lived in Tennessee for 46 years, and people have been extremely kind to me. I was really surprised and that these things should not happen, especially in a place where people are constantly guarding the values in such a way that discrimination and racism does not occur.”

Terming the shooting as “unfortunate,” he said that “it is the grace of the Covenant Presbyterian Church that, instead of saying six people were killed, they count the shooter among those and said seven people died. That is the community that we live in. That is the community that Nashville is, and people included the shooter among the casualties.”

He accused the Democratic lawmakers of inviting people and mobilizing “schools to bring thousands of children in and create a situation that it became about them,” when there should have been healing within the community and discussion “on what can we do to avoid such violence within our society.”

He added, “It was not about any solutions it was not about sympathy and mourning and other things that needed to be done… They… hey took it as an opportunity for political purposes to demonstrate and mobilize the people against the current administration. Then, in addition to that, not only were they satisfied with making it all about themselves, they went on to basically commandeer the House. They walked into the well of the main area within the House of Representatives, disrupted the function, started mobilizing and shouting and creating chaos within the House of Representatives, to the point that business could not be conducted. They took the place hostage, and that is not the purpose. And the idea was again to achieve that time of mourning, a time of healing and go on to think [of] solutions. And it’s a frequent thing, let’s do something. Okay, let us take time to do something but not make it about themselves.”

Kumar, a retired surgeon, is the only non-White member of the Republican caucus. In the statehouse, he represents District 66. Known as “Doc,” he ran unopposed to win a fifth term last November. He currently serves as the Chairman of the House Insurance Committee.