Nashville Council, Mayor Try to Allay Post-Election Fears

NASHVILLE, TN — Both the Metro Council and Mayor Megan Barry are looking to re-assure Nashvillians that the city will remain "open and welcoming."

Bellevue-area Councilman Dave Rosenberg circulated a resolution at Tuesday's council meeting, ultimately signed by 39 members — Councilman Steve Glover was absent — that declares Nashville “will continue to welcome and to afford equal justice to all residents and visitors regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, or protected status.”

It goes on to say Metro will

• act to ensure Nashville remains “an open and welcoming city” to everyone;
• continue to “vigorously pursue” justice for victims of sexual misconduct;
• strive to increase government transparency and communication so citizens are “well-informed as to the workings of the government that serves them.”

In an interview with The Tennessean, Rosenberg acknowledged his resolution, which will be formally considered by the council next month, was a response to the election of Donald Trump and to the anxiety his election has produced.

“White supremacists have been emboldened. There are vast questions about what policy is going to look like on a wide-range of issues and a white nationalist has been named to a top position in the coming administration,” he told the newspaper, referring to Trump's controversial appointment of former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon as his chief strategist, a personnel move roundly criticized by Democrats, civil rights watchdog groups and others and widely praised by white nationalist groups.

The resolution was also signed by Councilman Robert Swope, who served as the Tennessee state director for Trump's campaign.

“We are all Americans first,” Swope told The Tennessean. “I didn’t see anything that mandated anything in that resolution. It was simply just a matter of saying that yes, while we’re not an open refugee city, we are a welcoming city, and Nashville always has been. So, I saw no reason to not add my signature to it.”

Meanwhile, Barry tweeted that the city's police force would not enforce federal immigration policy:

Image via Metro Nashville