Alabama Constitution Section 102 - Miscegenation laws.
📜 Alabama Constitution – Section 102: Miscegenation Laws (REPEALED)
Original Text (Before Repeal):
"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."
❌ Status: Repealed
Repealed by Amendment 667 in the year 2000.
The amendment was passed by popular vote on November 7, 2000, formally removing this section from the Alabama Constitution.
⚖️ Historical Context:
This section was part of Alabama’s 1901 Constitution, reflecting the racially discriminatory laws of the Jim Crow era.
It prohibited interracial marriage between white people and Black people (or their descendants).
Similar laws were once common across the Southern U.S.
🧑⚖️ Unconstitutional Long Before Repeal:
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia ruled that state bans on interracial marriage are unconstitutional, based on the 14th Amendment (equal protection and due process).
After that decision, Section 102 became unenforceable, but it remained in the Alabama Constitution symbolically until 2000.
📌 Summary:
Section 102 once banned interracial marriage in Alabama.
It was rendered unenforceable in 1967 (Loving v. Virginia).
It was officially repealed in 2000 by a statewide vote.
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