Plans are underway in Alabama to remove racist Language from the sixth state constitution. The Alabama constitution, approved in 1901, encouraged white supremacy and racial segregation. Although the federal courts have banned some clauses that enabled racism over the years, they are yet to eradicate racist Language from it.
Section 256 openly advocates for a segregated school system. This section notes, “Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race.”
In November 2020, amendment 4 that seeks to remove racist language from Alabama’s constitution, passed with a 67% margin. This led to the formation of a Recompilation of the Constitution committee comprising ten members to oversee the process.
The chosen Committee members met on Tuesday to discuss possible amendments to the remaining traces of racist Language in the Alabama State constitution. The committee will put the agreed-upon changes to a public vote probably during the 2022 state general election.
The panel meets again on October 13th to vote on removing involuntary servitude as a penalty for criminal behavior. This provision has for a long time justified convicting black men of trivial offenses to obtain their unpaid labor in Alabama’s coal mines.
