Marital Color Line

Kennedy, Randall, The Nation

On November 7, voters in Alabama erased from that state's Constitution a provision dating from 1901 that declared that "the legislature shall never pass any law to authorize or legalize any marriage between any white person and a Negro, or descendant of a Negro." This declaration represented in part a desire by white supremacists to express as fully as possible their intention to expunge the racially egalitarian symbols, hopes and reforms of Reconstruction. Although Alabama had never enacted a law expressly authorizing interracial marriage, in 1872 the state's Supreme Court did invalidate the law that prohibited such unions. But it promptly reversed itself in 1877 when white supremacists regained power. The Alabama Constitution's disapproval of interracial marriage, however, had still deeper roots. It stemmed from the presumption …

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Publication information: Article title: Marital Color Line. Contributors: Kennedy, Randall - Author. Magazine title: The Nation. Volume: 271. Issue: 21 Publication date: December 25, 2000. Page number: 8. © 1999 The Nation Company L.P. COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group.

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