The Committee of the Recompilation of the Constitution voted on Wednesday to move forward with a plan to remove racist language from the state constitution.
The plan includes removing language that affirms schools being segregated by race and that people should pay poll taxes to vote. It also aims to reorganize the constitution, which has nearly 1,000 amendments, making it easier to understand and read.
The committee’s proposal will be reviewed by state lawmakers in the 2022 legislative session, and then be voted on in November if approved.
Similar proposals have failed twice in the last 20 years. Alabamians voted in 2000 to remove a ban on interracial marriages in the constitution, but 40% of voters opposed the measure.
