{"id":5189,"date":"2012-11-04T09:18:13","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T14:18:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/?p=5189"},"modified":"2013-01-12T02:31:45","modified_gmt":"2013-01-12T07:31:45","slug":"tuesday-no-more-separate-but-equal-in-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/tuesday-no-more-separate-but-equal-in-alabama\/","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday: No More Separate But Equal in Alabama?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, Alabama will vote on Amendment 4, which would delete segregationist language from the Alabama Constitution.\u00a0 Officially named Senate Bill 112<\/a>, the proposed Amendment eliminates the poll tax and deletes the following provision:<\/p>\n

\u201cSeparate 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

This language has been part of the Alabama Constitution since 1901, which generally is regarded as one of the most restrictive state constitutions in the nation.\u00a0 Campbell Robertson of the New York Times frames<\/a> the current debate surrounding Amendment 4 as follows: \u201cthe degree to which racist language can be surgically removed from a document that was constructed primarily on the ground of racism.\u201d \u00a0Although most outside Alabama may see it as a foregone conclusion that such blatantly racist language should be removed from the constitution, the outcome is far from certain.<\/p>\n

A similar amendment failed in 2004 primarily because opponents argued that eliminating the language would result in increased taxes to fund education. \u00a0The current Amendment 4 does not propose to delete language that says the state has no obligation to provide public education, which proponents hope will neutralize the anti-tax opposition.<\/p>\n

The Conservative Christians of Alabama website<\/a> has this to say about Amendment 4:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis amendment will have no legal impact, and accomplishes nothing legally. the only purpose is for the politically correct to feel good.\u201d (sic)<\/p>\n

The Amendment is set forth in a sample ballot<\/a> from Baldwin County:<\/p>\n

\u201cProposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to repeal portions of Amendment 111, now appearing as Section 256 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, relating to separation of schools by race and to the repeal of Section 259, Amendment 90, and Amendment 109, relating to the poll tax (Proposed by Act No. 2011-353).\u201d<\/p>\n

The Amendment seeks to accomplish a very limited goal, which some criticize<\/a> because it avoids a necessary conversation about the state\u2019s history of institutional racism.\u00a0 Dr. Wayne Flynt, Professor Emeritus at Auburn University, voted \u201cyes\u201d to the proposed Amendment in 2004 but has decided to vote \u201cno\u201d on Amendment 4 because he wants Alabama \u201cto have a serious conversation about the pernicious policies of our racial past, not about [the Constitution\u2019s] hateful language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Flynt\u2019s frustration is understandable. \u00a0The cosmetic revision of deleting offensive language is superficial.\u00a0 This debate calls to mind Frederick Douglass and his famous speech<\/a> \u201cThe Constitution of the United States: Is It Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?\u201d\u00a0 Douglass observed that our nation’s Constitution was written by slaveholders and had been cited as recognizing the institution of slavery. \u00a0Rather than separate from the Constitution as a document, he argued the abolitionist movement should use the document to support its anti-slavery argument.\u00a0 Douglass noted that although proponents of slavery \u201chave given the Constitution a slaveholding interpretation\u201d and \u201chave committed innumerable wrongs against the Negro in the name of the Constitution,\u201d it \u201cdoes not follow that the Constitution is in favour of these wrongs\u201d because it has had that interpretation in the past.<\/p>\n

Dr. Flynt is correct that the measure only \u201ccosmetically\u201d addresses Alabama\u2019s deep seeded and troubling racial history. \u00a0However, eliminating the explicit racism of separate but equal language is a valuable goal if incremental change is considered progress.\u00a0 One can hope that Amendment 4 is a start to the conversation Dr. Flynt rightly believes must occur.\u00a0 The battle against racism will not end with a successful vote.\u00a0 Progressives in Alabama should take up Douglass\u2019s directive to \u201cmake the [Constitution] bend to the cause of freedom and justice\u201d and seek change in more direct and tangible efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, Alabama will vote on Amendment 4, which would delete segregationist language from the Alabama Constitution.\u00a0 Officially named Senate 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