Alabama To Vote On Ending Interracial Marriage Ban During November Elections

Jet, Oct 23, 2000

Alabama is the very last state with a constitution that, at least on paper, still forbids interracial marriage.

However, on Nov. 7, citizens will vote to remove the interracial marriage ban.

The ballot proposal would remove section 102 of the Alabama Constitution. The passage, written in 1901, bars the Legislature from enacting any law "to authorize or legalize any marriage between any White person and a Negro or descendant of a Negro."

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled such bans illegal almost 30 years ago, so the clause is unenforceable. But some people in Alabama find section 102 a shameful relic in a state that is moving forward.

"It needs to be repealed," said state Rep. Alvin Holmes, a Black Democrat who wrote the ballot proposal. "When it's the law, that means it's state-sanctioned."

Holmes added, "It is wrong. A person should have a choice to marry any person he wants. Interracial marriage is an individual choice and the state should not have a law to prohibit that."

Alabama is 75 percent White and 25 percent Black. Polls suggest the measure will pass, but with substantial opposition.

A recent Mobile Register-University of South Alabama poll found 64 percent in favor of the measure and 19 percent opposed. The rest were undecided or not planning to vote. Capital Survey Research found 53 percent in favor and 30 percent opposed.

One interracial couple, lawyers Henry and Alison Penick, who married 18 months ago, hope the ban will be removed.

"If 30 percent of the people still want to ban interracial marriage, you have to wonder, what else do they want?" said Alison Penick, 37.

Yet, interracial marriages are on the rise in Alabama. Ten years ago, there were 605 such marriages, 1.4 percent of the total that year. By 1998, the latest year available, they numbered 1,546, or 3.3 percent.

The Penicks said a stranger once hollered, "Jungle Fever!" at them, but they are, nevertheless, surprised at how well their marriage is accepted.