Lee pulls Deberry back into politics
On Nov. 3, John Deberry fumed as he discussed the electoral landslide that ended his legislative tenure and closed, some thought, his political window for good.
Both then and now, Deberry believes he would still be a legislator if the Tennessee Democratic Party hadn’t kicked him out of the party. But, if the party hadn’t removed him, he would not have his new job.
Last week, Gov. Bill Lee named DeBerry to his cabinet as a senior advisor, a $165,000-a-year position that takes De
Berry from one of 99 members of the Tennessee House of Representatives to a place where he has the ear of the state’s conservative governor. Deberry is among three Black members in Lee’s mostly white cabinet.
So, instead of ending a 26-year career
in government, Deberry is starting another chapter, one in which he could have more, or as much influence, than he did at any point in the General Assembly. Instead of removing Deberry from state politics, the Tennessee Democratic Party, indirectly, further ensconced the anti-abortion, pro-school voucher Memphis pastor in state government.
Deberry, 69, is quick to tell people that his values — particularly his stances on abortion and LGBTQ issues — have not evolved or changed since his formative years during the 1960s. His former legislative colleagues agree.
“He comes at his position on a lot of things from his role as a minister, and pastor of a church. And he views a lot of life through that lens. And that’s been consistent. I think he’s always kind of looked at things that way,” said Karen Camper, the Tennessee House Minority Leader, and someone who disagrees with how Deberry was removed from the party.
Deberry is a minister at Coleman Avenue Church of Christ, a conservative denomination of Christianity. He told the Christian Chronicle earlier this year that his stances on social issues were biblical stands, not Republican or Democratic ones. Deberry also owns an advertising firm, John Deberry and Associates.
In interviews, the former legislator also cites his upbringing in Crockett County, Tennessee, where he and his siblings were the first Black children to integrate the schools in Alamo. That upbringing and his witnessing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech in Memphis were the subject of his fiery speech against some of this summer’s protests, oratory in which he decried the decorum of some protests and criticized riots seen in some cities.
That speech, which went viral, led to rebukes from some in his own party, but sent Deberry on a national media tour, leading to an appearance on conservative-leaning Fox News. While that display of conservatism garnered national attention, and was widely applauded by the Tennessee GOP, Deberry, first elected in 1994, spent two-and-a-half decades as a conservative Democrat in Tennessee House.
He was among two Democrats who voted in 2011 to weaken teacher tenure at public schools. He pushed school vouchers for years, finding alliances across the aisle there, too. In 2019, DeBerry would cast one of the crucial votes for Lee’s controversial education savings account bill.
He was also among the few Democrats to vote for allowing guns in cars in 2013.
In 2012, he was among a group of conservative, Black, Memphis pastors who opposed former President Barack Obama endorsing same-sex marriage. The group sought to remind Obama not to forget Black Christians and emphasized their faith-based opposition to same-sex marriage.
Among some Black Protestants, that opposition has moderated in recent years, according to polling data. However, more Black Protestants are against same-sex marriage than the U.S. average.
While the Democratic Party, nationally and at the state level, has embraced abortion-rights and same-sex marriage, Deberry’s social conservatism is not uncommon in some parts of his former district, House District 90. The same could be said for Camper’s district, House District 87.
In both districts, there are areas that are predominately Black and moderate — precincts that voted heavily for former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg in the presidential primary. Deberry’s former district also includes parts of Midtown and Evergreen, relatively wealthier neighborhoods that have more white voters and lean more progressive.
“If you look at a lot of the makeup of the people in those districts, a lot of my older constituents. They’re Christians, churchgoing, faith-based individuals … And we both share that in our districts,” Camper said.
Both Deberry and Camper noted that while some voters in their districts are socially conservative, they’re loyal Democratic voters.
“A lot of times, [people] just vote their party lines … I just think people do,” Camper said.
Deberry said, “How do you win 13 elections, all of them over 60% and not be in touch with your district? That district didn’t change that much. In two years? It was a Democratic district, with folks with many moderate and conservative views …
“That same group of voters are also loyal, many of them loyal Democrats, who go to the ballot, and they look for the Democratic nominee as they did this time. And when you consider what was going on in our country, and how divided we are right now, it’s very understandable that a lot of folks were very confused.”
The man who defeated Deberry, Torrey Harris, maintains that Deberry’s removal from the Democratic Party didn’t help Harris win the seat. Harris ran to the left of Deberry in the 2018 primary and lost.
Camper has a more nuanced view of the election, saying that a primary in August between Harris and Deberry should have been the way the race was decided.
“You don’t know what that story would have looked like. That would have been a truer representation of what the district was wanted. And that’s what I think most people probably would have preferred to have seen — how the district would have voted at that time,” Camper said. In an interview with The Commercial Appeal Thursday, Deberry said that he was as surprised as anyone to receive Lee’s appointment. He had already officially retired and had collected a check from his Tennessee state pension. He said he and Lee did not discuss the appointment before the election.
“The governor really felt as though there are groups that are disproportionately represented in too many of the negative categories; from disproportionate minority confinement to disproportionate economic — folks don’t have access to capital,” Deberry said. “He wants me to deal with those issues, where there are those who have are from demographics that need help; that need assistance; that need attention, [attention] that may not have been given as effectively in the past.”
Gillum Ferguson, Lee’s spokesman, said Deberry will advise Lee on education and criminal justice reform.
“Since taking office, the governor worked with Deberry on a lot of issues, especially education reform, also criminal justice. They share a lot of common interests, a lot of passions in public service and what the administration can do and what the General Assembly can do to improve lives of Tennesseans,” Ferguson said. “They became very close over the last couple of years, so the governor offered him this job.”
Camper, the Democratic minority leader in a chamber that has a Republican super-majority, is hopeful that her former fellow caucus member could work with her.
“I look forward to working with him .... He’s in a place where he feels he can contribute to Tennessee, and the state, the constituents. And as Minority Leader, I just look forward to what’s possible,” Camper said. “He understands the legislature. He understands the needs of the community. ... I think we have a good relationship.”
Asked if she was surprised by the appointment, Camper laughed and said, “I was in the military for 21 years. And I’ve come to not be surprised by a lot of things.”