The Denver Post is reporting on a campaign to remove the word “slavery” from Colorado’s constitution. Amendment T, scheduled for the November ballot in the state, would amend the state’s constitution:
In the constitution of the state of Colorado, amend section 26 of article II as follows:
Section 26. Slavery prohibited. There shall never be in this state either slavery or involuntary servitude. except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.
The clause, which mirrors the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, is in reference to prison labor. Colorado’s constitution was drawn up in 1876, the year it became the 38th state. The move to amend the constitution comes as the Obama administration announced it would stop using private prisons to house federal prisoners.
Wouldn’t it be great if Colorado’s campaign reached the halls of Congress and a similar move began to amend the U.S. Constitution? The words of protestors at Colorado’s state capitol on Tuesday already point the way:
“This is not a Colorado value,” said Lee McNeil of Shorter Community A.M.E. Church in Denver, referencing the subjugation of a race. “Morally, we all deserve to have dignity, freedom and equality. Our Colorado communities, families, churches, schools, places of worship must be able to focus on healing.”
Amen.