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Ala. Constitution: Vote Looms on Amending History
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| Contributor | The Sunset Provision |
| Last Edited | The Sunset Provision Oct 27, 2012 09:35am |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Saturday, October 27, 2012 03:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Segregation ended decades ago in Alabama, swept away by the civil rights marchers who faced down police dogs and fire hoses in the early '60s. But segregation is still mandated by the state's constitution, and voters on Nov. 6 will get only their second chance in years to eliminate an anachronism that still exists on paper.
Election Day in this Deep South state could be the day Alabama amends history.
Amendment 4 — the proposal to delete the constitution's archaic language affirming segregation — is tucked amid routine issues of sewers, bonds and city boundaries on a crowded Election Day ballot. It's a striking call to see if Alabama will repeat what it did in 2004, when the state narrowly voted to keep the outdated and racially controversial language, bringing national ridicule upon the state.
The second time won't be any easier than the first because Alabama's two largest black political groups are urging a "no" vote. They say the proposed changes would wipe out some racially charged language, but would retain segregation-era language saying there is no constitutional right to a public education in Alabama. And they've been joined by the state's main teachers' group in refusing to go along.
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