Do you know what anti-miscegenation laws your state passed and when they were abolished? What do you believe the history of these laws can tell us about race and marriage in America, both then and now?

Laws banning interracial marriage in America were first passed in the seventeenth century. They were enacted in many states until they were declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. Alabama became the last state to remove laws banning interracial marriage from its statutes in the year 2000. Do you know what anti-miscegenation laws your state passed and when they were abolished? What do you believe the history of these laws can tell us about race and marriage in America, both then and now?

In the year 2000, Alabama, as you say, removed the anti-miscegenation article from its state Constitution. Alabama had made laws against racial intermarriage and cohabitation soon after the Civil War. These laws were written into the Constitution of 1901, the last time the Constitution was revised before 2001. I was living in Birmingham at the time and remember that the impetus for revision was primarily the updating of outmoded and unwieldy laws affecting business operations . Removing the anti-miscegenation provision, which had not been enforceable since 1967, was a by-product. Anti-miscegenation laws tell us that the state believed that it could control, and for the good of society should control, whom people love, cohabitate with, and marry. Laws affecting LGBTQ couples are today’s version of that belief.

Anti-miscegenation laws come from valuing and desiring to maintain “racial purity” (of the white race), which comes from a core belief in white supremacy. How frightening and reprehensible to see this attitude returning to endanger our democratic society and haunt our lives!

In Oregon, anti-miscegenation laws were passed in 1866, shortly after the conclusion of the civil war. They were repealed in 1951, which seems earlier than when they were rolled back in much of the country.

One of the things this says to me is that the Supreme Court can, and does, change its opinion on what's constitutional. (Personal opinion here, but the proposed ruling on abortion is the first time I can remember the Supreme Court rolling back a decision to a position that's actually LESS liberal. Kinda scary.)

I looked up my states laws, they were passed in Wyoming in 1913 and repealed in 1965.

In Illinois I know there was a speech in Charleston, Illinois, in 1858, where Abraham Lincoln stated, "I am not, nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people". But I believe that the law was changed in 1967 like in most other states to ban miscegenation laws.

I do remember when I was about 10 yrs old and living in Illinois, it was the late 1950's and there was a couple who would occasionally walk down our block holding hands. He was black and she was white. I can remember them being the talk of the neighborhood - altho I do not believe they lived anywhere close to us. Some adults took the 'live and let live' attitude while others were mad or aghast at their brazen display. I think that was the first time that I saw a "difference' between black and white and it was due to hearing the adults talk. A few years later while living in the deep south I remember seeing signs above water fountains or restrooms eluding to 'white only' or 'Negro facility'. And I remember black men dropping their eyes to the ground and stepping off the sidewalk to let my mother and I pass. So I am sure that any affiliation between black and white other than blacks as servants was frowned up on and probably a crime.

I did a search for Kansas miscegenation laws and could not find anything, but am not sure that is accurate. What I did find that the Kansas legislature seemed more focused on education and segregation. The Brown vs the Board of Education National Park Historic Site in Topeka, Kansas is an excellent source for those wanting more information about segregation in Kansas and nationwide.