This was a rather stunning news article. The title alone was enough to stop me in my tracks, and the news inside was somehow even worse.
In the United States, we learn that slavery ended later than it did for most other countries. President Abraham Lincoln gave his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This, we learn, is when slavery was officially abolished, although there is a general understanding that it persisted in the southern states until at least 1865, because they of course had seceded from the Union, and were fighting a war to preserve the institution of slavery.
Yet, slavery was still officially on the books in some southern states. I remember that Michael Moore did a piece on this bizarre story back in 1995 on his television show, TV Nation, where he officially obtained slaves in Mississippi, back in 1995.
Of course, we all know that Mississippi became the final state to get rid of the "Bars and Stars" as a part - and a prominent part at that - of the official state flag last year. That, of course, was the flag that the southern secessionist states fought under when they were fighting in the American Civil War, or as it is known in the South, the "war between the states." Many people associate the "Bars and Stars" as a symbol of racism, which I tend to agree with. Again, that was the flag that symbolized the fight to maintain white supremacy in the South, and in particular, to preserve the "economic system" of slavery. The designer of the flag made clear that the flag was designed to remind people of white supremacy, and very prominent members of the government of the Confederate States of America shared this sentiment quite openly and explicitly.
However, slavery itself has apparently not even officially disappeared from the books in at least one southern states. Indeed, Tennessee, like Mississippi, still had slavery in the books officially, even if most people assume that it is a long dead tradition that was outlawed over a century and a half ago. In a not entirely unrelated story, there are still some official "Jim Crow" laws that also have not been abolished in some of those former slave and segregationist states. In Virginia, lawmakers took up the issue of finally getting rid of those Jim Crow segregation laws, which were still officially in the books very recently, even if they were no longer really enforced or even recognized.
The Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in Virginia Law was created in order to find the last vestiges of these blatantly racist laws, and officially take them off the legal books. It is largely symbolic, because segregationist laws have repeatedly been struck down in the courts. Still, many feel that the symbolism here is important (taken from Laura Vozzella's Washington Post article from a couple of years back):
“We know that in Virginia, our history is difficult and extremely complex,” Northam said. “And we know that discrimination, racism and black oppression marched on, even after slavery ended. In the form of Jim Crow laws, massive resistance [to school integration] and now among other things, mass incarceration.”
Most of the laws are defunct today, given Supreme Court rulings outlawing discrimination on the basis of race.
“Though most of these pieces of legislation are outdated and have no legal effect, they remain enshrined in law,” the commission’s report states. “The Commission believes that such vestiges of Virginia’s segregationist past should no longer have official status.”
Nor is Virginia the lone exception of southern states still officially having racist, Jim Crow-era laws on the books. Far from it, actually.
In an article by Kimathi T. Lewis (see link below), we find that some of these laws that entrenched legal racial segregation are still officially on the books:
The Alabama Constitution still allows parents to choose to send their children to schools provided for their race only.
A Mississippi law retains a provision allowing closure of close proximity public schools if they are integrated, Chin said. And a South Carolina law continues to authorize tuition grants for students in segregated public schools, he said.
Also, still on the books is a Virginia law containing provisions that allow suspension of compulsory education laws if schools are integrated, he said.
Progress has been made, however. In the same article, examples are given of some of these outdated laws which have successfully been officially removed:
A Georgia law designed to allow teachers at segregated private schools to join desirable state pension programs. A Missouri law that referred to a segregated reform school for “Negroes” is no longer on the books. Louisiana laws that authorize the closing of integrated public schools, and the payment of salaries of teachers who are imprisoned for resisting integration have been removed. And, a West Virginia statute that was used to limit the number of African Americans hired as public school supervisors is also relegated to history.
Now, you might think that many in the South would go that extra mile to get rid of these nagging reminders of a dark and brutal past, much like Mississippi finally managed to do last year by replacing the old flag with the "Bars and Stars" as a prominent part of it. At least, that is, if they were serious about trying to prove that they have moved beyond that chapter in their history, and no longer want to be associated, or possibly defined, with racism any longer.
In Tennessee, though, they are discussing finally officially removing slavery from the state constitution. It might seem like this would or should be a no-brainer, one thing that members of both major parties might finally be able to easily agree on. But if you assumed that, you would be wrong. And wouldn't you know it? Some Republicans are opposed to it, apparently shamelessly.
Frankly, it is quit stunning, not to mention appalling, that we are still grappling with these issues here in the United States, now more than two full decades into the 21st century. This is part of the reason why so many around the world now seem to view the United States as a place where hatred, racism, and xenophobia too often thrive. The Trump era did little to help in these matters domestically, and his presidency certainly did not help America's image overseas, either.
Many detractors would argue that, again, these laws are no longer really enforced, and that they have been stricken down by courts repeatedly. They would argue that taking action is likely a PR stunt, and purely symbolic. However, if we use their own reasoning and take them at face value that these laws do not matter, it really should not be a big deal or controversial to strike them down, to finally get rid of them, and at least address a part of the racist legacy that they clearly symbolize. The lack of unified political will to do so may be very telling.
To his credit, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam did acknowledge that there is a long way to go in addressing racism still to this day. What he said, in fact, applies not only to his state of Virginia, but to the entire country, really. So, I thought it fitting to end on his words, although it should be noted that many people were critical of him on this issue, to the point of requesting that he step down as governor. This quote is from the same Washington Post article by Laura Vozzella as the last quote):
“As we stand here today there are inequities in access to health care, inequities in access to a world-class education, inequities in access to the criminal justice system, to the voting booth,” Northam said. “You could go on and on. So we still have a lot of work to do.”
Below are the links to the article used in writing this particular blog entry, and from which I obtained the quotes used above:
Tennessee state senator votes against removing slavery from state’s constitution by WMC Action News 5 Staff | March 15, 2021
https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2021/03/16/bill-abolishing-slavery-under-all-circumstances-tenn-advances/?fbclid=IwAR0_xwj3F0QqG1Y1LoxBvIVzy4pdFsPanUdsH_fPBYGDgj2mmL2FQvgo-Os
Virginia looks at scrapping defunct, racist laws still on the books by Laura Vozzella, Dec. 5, 2019:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-looks-at-scrapping-defunct-racist-laws-still-on-the-books/2019/12/05/e06b3b62-1781-11ea-9110-3b34ce1d92b1_story.html
It’s Still Legal to Have Segregated Schools in Alabama and Other Jim Crow Laws on the Books by Kimathi T. Lewis, Published 2 years ago on August 16, 2019By Kimathi T. Lewis
https://www.thevillagecelebration.com/its-still-legal-to-have-segregated-schools-in-alabama-and-other-jim-crow-laws-on-the-books/
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