Alabama Vote Opens Old Racial Wounds (washingtonpost.com)
Alabama voters rejected a state constitutional amendment on November 2 that would have repealed provisions in the state constitution requiring separate schools for white and black children. Their reason? The amendment would also have repealed language that says the state does not guarantee a public education. Former Justice Roy Moore, who was removed from the state supreme court after trying to bring a giant granite sculpture of the ten commandments into the supreme court building earlier this year, led the fight against the amendment. Moore threw the fear into the population that "activist federal judges" might force the state to raise taxes to pay for public education. Since Alabama is apparently ranked 44th in per pupil expenditures by state, this might not be such a bad idea.