John DeBerry

John J. DeBerry Jr. (born February 5, 1951) is an American pastor and politician who served as a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing District 90 from 1995 to 2021.

Unlike many national Democrats, DeBerry identifies as pro-life.

Republican Governor Bill Lee appointed him to become his senior advisor in 2020.

DeBerry graduated from Freed–Hardeman University and the University of Memphis.

In May 2020, the Tennessee Democratic Party's State Executive Committee voted 41 to 18 to remove DeBerry from the Democratic primary ballot after 26 years in office.

One of the committee members who voted to remove him said that DeBerry wasn’t “exemplifying the basic Democratic principles.“ DeBerry's anti-abortion views were a major factor.

DeBerry himself protested that it hadn't been the voters in his district that had taken him off the ballot rather, "A tribunal took me off the ballot that has absolutely nothing to do with my district."

On August 1, 2020, DeBerry, as a Tennessee State Representative, delivered remarks on the floor of the Tennessee State Legislature during a debate with lawmakers on a law to increase penalties for demonstrators suspected of certain violent offences against police officers.

During the debate, DeBerry gave a speech that had a large impact on social media.

In the speech, DeBerry argued that the protests going on in the U.S at the time would be more successful if they remained peaceful.

He spoke about rioters and demonstrators in Portland, Seattle and elsewhere in the U.S. and the negative impacts of them due to the destruction, violence, and property damage caused across the country.

He argued that people did not have the right to destroy taxpayer-funded property.

He recalled that his family had participated in civil rights activism in the mid-twentieth century and he personally witnessed the civil rights protests of the time.

He also remembered that in his early life, he had to walk into public places through back doors, sit in the back of buses, drink out of the "colored" water fountain, and attend a racially segregated school because the law forced him to.

He argued that the civil rights movement overcame these things because it had integrity and class, worked peacefully and had common sense and strong values.

On November 30, 2020, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that DeBerry would serve as a special advisor in his administration.

He assumed office on December 1, 2020.