Until now, I would have guessed that a large segment of the African American community could not tell you what the 14th Amendment is or how many sections it has. As a reminder, section 1 reads “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
This past week, Republicans have decided that these attributes of citizenship are inappropriate for the United States of America in the 21st century. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., asserts that the 14th Amendment is no longer purposeful and that it should be re-examined regarding the granting of citizenship to any child born in the United States.
“You have your child at a hospital within the resort [and] that child is an American citizen. That, to me, cheapens American citizenship. That’s not the way I would like it to be awarded,” Graham said.
Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz, indicated that he would support the repeal of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution if brought to the floor of the Senate.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has also called for “taking a look” at changing the 14th Amendment as well. Particularly the portion that reads “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States …”
Although many will not admit it, as with past issues regarding this amendment, this too is based on race, specifically the debate on immigration. In the past decade or so, although not a historical first, Republicans have frequently ranted about repealing the 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment was passed following the Civil War in an attempt to prevent Southern states from denying citizenship to freed slaves. It was designed to ensure that all former slaves would be granted automatic United States citizenship, and have the same rights and privileges as any other citizen.
It is notable that each time the 14th Amendment has been challenged, it has always been during a hostile racial climate targeting either African Americans or other ethnic minorities, with the exception of the Slaughterhouse case in 1873, which allowed corporations to decide who to conduct business with. In a previous challenge to the amendment, the 1886 Plessy v. Ferguson case — the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana Jim Crow law that required segregation on railway cars by race. In 1904, representatives from the South argued in Congress that African Americans should be deprived of the right to vote. Not until the legendary Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 did discussion about the issue come to closure.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
