Omar Bennett
The Alabama Constitution of 1901, which is the longest in the world, has been amended over 800 times. Despite this, it still contains racist language and undertones that disproportionately harm and disenfranchise people of colour. In 2012, an amendment was proposed to remove language from the Alabama Constitution that referenced segregation by race in schools. However, it was defeated by voters. In 2022, the Alabama Constitution underwent further revisions, deleting sections that referenced racial segregation and removing racist language.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Length | 388,882 words |
| Amendments | More than 800 |
| Segregation | References to segregation by race in schools remain |
| Racist Language | References to racist language remain |
| Poll Tax | References to the poll tax remain |
| Suffrage | References to racial discrimination in voting remain |
| Education | References to the right to education being removed remain |
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What You'll Learn
Alabama's 1901 Constitution
Alabama has had six constitutions, all established via State Conventions. The Alabama Constitution of 1901 was the sixth, and it is Alabama's current constitution. It is the longest constitution in the country and possibly the world, at 388,882 words.
The 1901 Constitution was adopted soon after Alabama's November 11, 1901, statewide vote, where 108,613 people voted in favour of ratification, and 81,734 opposed it. One of the biggest goals of those who advocated for a new constitution was the disenfranchisement of African Americans. These advocates claimed that because manipulation of the black vote corrupted the election process, political morality demanded black disenfranchisement. Many of the proposals made by the delegates took advantage of certain social and economic distinctions, which could disenfranchise African Americans, as well as poor whites. Some of these proposals included long residency requirements, a poll tax, education requirements, and the grandfather clause.
The 1901 Constitution has been amended more than 800 times. Despite these efforts to modernise the document, it still contains racist language. For example, it still calls for school segregation, which was banned throughout the United States by the Supreme Court in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. In 2004 and 2012, ballot measures were put before the electorate to remove the segregationist language from the constitution. However, the 2004 proposal was defeated by less than 2,000 votes, and the 2012 proposal, called the Alabama Segregation Reference Ban Amendment, or Amendment 4, was also defeated.
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The Alabama Segregation Reference Ban Amendment
Alabama's 1901 constitution has been amended over 800 times and is the longest constitution in the country and possibly the world, with 388,882 words. Despite the numerous amendments, racist language remains in the document.
In 2012, Alabama voters considered the Alabama Segregation Reference Ban Amendment, also known as Amendment 4, which aimed to eliminate racist language from the constitution. The ballot initiative was defeated, with voters expressing concerns about potential new language that could reduce funding for public education.
The proposed amendment faced opposition from groups like the state's teachers' union and the black political caucus, the Alabama Democratic Conference. Critics argued that the amendment would reinstate language from the Jim Crow era that could potentially impact funding for public education. Specifically, the amendment included the "no right to education" clause, which was viewed as a threat to educational rights.
In 2022, Alabama introduced the Constitution of 2022, which removed repealed laws and racist language. This version of the constitution deleted sections related to segregated schools, poll taxes, and other vestiges of the segregation era. The Constitution of 2022 aimed to enhance the understandability of the state's foundational law while maintaining the status quo on tax and local governance issues.
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Rosa Parks' defiance
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress, took a seat on a bus on her way home from work. When the bus became crowded, the bus driver instructed Parks and three other African American passengers to vacate their seats for white passengers. Parks refused to give up her seat, defying Alabama's segregation laws and sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Parks' act of defiance became an important symbol of the Civil Rights Movement, and she became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation.
At the time, the city of Montgomery, Alabama, had a law requiring racial segregation on public buses. The first ten seats were permanently reserved for white passengers, and African American passengers were required to sit at the back of the bus. Parks was seated in the first row behind the seats reserved for white passengers. When the bus became crowded, the bus driver instructed Parks and the other African American passengers in her row to move back. Parks refused to move, and she was arrested for violating the city's segregation law.
Parks' decision to remain seated was not a spontaneous act of defiance but rather a deliberate and calculated decision informed by her history of activism. She had been active in the civil rights movement for many years, joining the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1943 and serving as the organization's secretary. In this capacity, she investigated and organized campaigns around cases of racial and sexual violence, laying the groundwork for future civil rights campaigns. Parks was also a supporter of the Black Power movement and an anti-apartheid activist, participating in protests and conferences as part of the Free South Africa Movement.
Parks' act of defiance sparked a 382-day bus boycott, with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. organizing the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956. The boycott caught the attention of the nation and the world, and it was successful in challenging segregation on city buses. A federal court suit in Alabama, Browder v. Gayle (1956), ruled that Alabama's bus segregation laws were illegal, and this ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court. Parks' quiet act of defiance resonated globally, and she is known and revered as the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement."
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Racist language
The Alabama Constitution, written in 1901, is the longest in the country and possibly the world, with 388,882 words. It has been amended over 800 times, yet racist language still resides in the document.
In 2012, the Alabama Segregation Reference Ban Amendment, or Amendment 4, was defeated by voters. This amendment would have removed language from the Alabama Constitution that referenced segregation by race in schools. It would have repealed Section 259, which related to poll taxes, and deleted the remaining 'Jim Crow' provisions of the Constitution of 1901.
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 rested upon white supremacy as a basic element of governance. Section 256 of this constitution required "separate schools for white and colored children". While this was amended in 1956, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling outlawed segregated schools in 1954, Alabama tried to keep the door open for segregation. The amended version of Section 256 says, "The legislature may authorize the parents or guardians of minors, who desire that such minors shall attend schools provided for their own race, to make election to that end."
The Constitution of 2022 deletes the last portion of Section 32, which reads: "That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude." It also deletes the portion of Section 256 that mandated segregated schools, as well as a provision from the 1956 amendment that said the Legislature could “require or impose conditions or procedures deemed necessary to the preservation of peace and order.”.
Despite these changes, racial segregation is still pervasive in Alabama, particularly in housing. While people of different races may work together, they are unlikely to live in integrated neighborhoods. This is reinforced by the practice of "steering" by real estate agents, where they make assumptions about where their client might like to live based on the color of their skin.
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Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the United States. The term "Jim Crow" comes from a song-and-dance caricature of black people performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface, first performed in 1828. The character became a well-known stereotype, and the term became a pejorative expression for African Americans. The Jim Crow laws were enacted in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the Compromise of 1877, which resulted in the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the rise of white Democratic "Redeemer" governments. These laws were a manifestation of authoritarian rule directed at one racial group, with the intention of disenfranchising and removing the political and economic gains made by African Americans during the Reconstruction era.
The Jim Crow laws mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the former Confederate states and some other states, beginning in the 1870s. This included separate schools, hotels, bars, hospitals, toilets, parks, telephone booths, libraries, cinemas, and restaurants. Public transportation was also segregated, with separate railroad cars and bus seats for black and white people. In addition, Jim Crow laws prohibited interracial marriage and denied suffrage to African Americans. The laws also made it illegal for black and white people to participate in certain activities together, such as boating or playing checkers.
The Jim Crow laws were upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which established the "separate but equal" doctrine. However, in practice, facilities for African Americans were inferior and underfunded compared to those for white Americans, and sometimes there were no facilities for the black community at all. The laws effectively created two societies: one white and advantaged, and the other black, disadvantaged, and despised.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded in 1909, led sustained public protests and campaigns against the Jim Crow laws. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. The remaining Jim Crow laws were generally overturned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
While the Jim Crow laws no longer exist, their legacy of segregation and discrimination continues to impact the United States. Residential segregation, in particular, persists, with people of different races still unlikely to live in integrated neighborhoods. Alabama's constitution, for example, still contains language calling for school segregation, although it has been amended numerous times and is no longer legally enforceable.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the Alabama Constitution of 1901, which has been amended over 800 times, still contains racist language and calls for segregation in schools.
The Alabama Segregation Reference Ban Amendment, also known as Amendment 4, was on the ballot in 2012 as a proposed amendment to remove language from the Alabama Constitution that references segregation by race in schools. However, it was defeated by voters.
The amendment would have removed racist language from the constitution and repealed Section 259, which related to poll taxes. While segregation in schools had already been struck down by the Supreme Court in 1954, the amendment aimed to clear the language from the books completely.
Alabama's Constitution of 2022 removes repealed laws and racist language. Three sections have been revised or deleted, including the last portion of Section 32, which now reads: "That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude." The Constitution of 2022 also deletes the portion of Section 256 that mandated segregated schools.
