ALABAMA RECOMPILED CONSTITUTION RATIFICATION QUESTION OF 2022

"O, let me teach you how to knit again/This scattered corn into one mutual sheaf/These broken limbs again into one body/Lest Rome herself be bane unto herself/And she whom mighty kingdoms curtsy to/Like a forlorn and desperate castaway/Do shameful execution on herself." — The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus, Act V, Scene iii

***

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,

Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:

Till we have built Jerusalem,

In Englands green & pleasant Land.

—William Blake, Jerusalem ["And did those feet in ancient time"]

***

We have two pandemics, a war in Ukraine causing geopolitical shocks, exacerbating existing global famine, and a recession exacerbating existing national and global poverty not merely for the Global South, but for the Global North as well. In the background lurks climate, causing fire and flood in alternating regions of the world. Ukraine begged for NATO to close the sky against the constant shelling that beat down on that country from Russia. The world needs scientists from around the globe to close the sky with reflective material that will mitigate the effects of a porous ozone layer. On top of that, we have brazen acts performed by former American leaders, and their crackpot supporters, that not only endanger the national security, but threaten international security and a semblance of global social order. 

A further wrinkle is the transition from the second Elizabethan era to the third Carolinian era, in a world that wants normalcy again but not in the manner that was previously portrayed. Someone has lost both a father and a mother within a very short interval of time, and yet must shoulder on throughout this tumult. There is no expiration date on grief in any corner of the world for the child who has lost parents to war, famine, poverty or disease.

Yet and still, duty never dies: the duty to uphold monarchy and royalism, though colonies may spiral out of its orbit, with a commensurate loss of peculiar and powerful interest, and have influence of the commonwealth remain as do other such special relationships. Many places around the world display their relationship to each other via common symbols, such as Saint Andrew's Cross upon heraldry and flags. One such place bearing the saltire is the great state of Alabama.

The Alabama Recompiled Constitution Ratification Question of 2022 seeks to reform the writ by which the Heart of Dixie governs itself. On November 8th of this year, Alabamians will have the opportunity to vote for ratification of the amended state Constitution. The following sections were part of the Alabama state Constitution from 1901 until their removal in 2022:

• Section 32 of Article I: "That no form of slavery shall exist in this state; and there shall not be any involuntary servitude, otherwise than for the punishment of crime, of which the party shall have been duly convicted."

• Section 102 of Article IV: "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."

• Section 256 of Article XIV: "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, and no child of either race shall be permitted to attend a school of the other race" and "To avoid confusion and disorder and to promote effective and economical planning for education, the legislature may authorize the parents or guardians of minors, who desire that such minors shall attend schools provided for their own race, to make election to that end, such election to be effective for such period and to such extent as the legislature may provide."

• Section 259 of Article XIV: "All poll taxes collected in this state shall be applied to the support and furtherance of education in the respective counties where collected."