By April Simpson, Moyers on Democracy, November 18, 2020
More than a century ago, white Mississippians devised a way to almost guarantee that no African American — or Black residents’ preferred candidate — would ever hold real political power in the state. It’s among the discriminatory measures voters changed across the country on Election day.
After months of unrest sharpened the nation’s attention to racial justice issues, voters in several states approved ballot measures and amendments, dumping symbols and language linked to slavery and the Jim Crow South.
Alabama voters approved an amendment that will begin the process of, among other things, removing racist language from the state’s constitution. The clauses have been invalidated by amendments to the U.S. Constitution and U.S. Supreme Court decisions but they’re still in the state’s official founding documents.
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