OPINION —
On Nov. 8, the citizens of Alabama will have the opportunity to ratify a new Constitution for Alabama — the Alabama Constitution of 2022.
Our current constitution of 1901 is an abhorrent, dysfunctional and unusable document. It is the world’s longest constitutional document, riddled with redundant amendments that befuddle even constitutional scholars. More abhorrent, the document contains racial language and provisions, long since declared unconstitutional, based on the idea that some segment of our society are less than human, unable to assume the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
The proposed Alabama Constitution of 2022 is a recompilation of the 1901 Constitution into an orderly and comprehendible document. In addition, it eliminates all now illegal racist language and provisions.
The proposed Alabama Constitution of 2022 was unanimously approved, Republicans and Democrats, by the legislature and endorsed by the governor.
While in some ways a modest step for Alabama, it is, nevertheless, a giant step in providing a useable Constitution, the governing document for a civil society and removing the last Constitutional vestiges of racial discrimination.
On Nov. 8, vote “Yes” on the ratification of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022.
The proposed Alabama Constitution of 2022 can be found on the website of the Secretary of State at www.sos.state.al.us.
Gerald W. Johnson
Auburn University Emeritus Professor of
Political Science