1987 Mississippi Amendment 3

1987 Mississippi Amendment 3 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Mississippi to repeal the state's defunct ban on interracial marriage. The amendment was symbolic, as the Supreme Court had ruled interracial marriage bans unconstitutional in Loving v. Virginia 20 years prior, which rendered the provision unenforceable. Placed on the ballot by House Concurrent Resolution No. 13, it was approved with 51.76% of the vote, though 44 of Mississippi's 82 counties voted against.

In 1967, as a result of the Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Loving v. Virginia, Mississippi's interracial marriage ban was struck down.^[1] However, the ban remained in Mississippi's constitution as a defunct provision.^[2]

On August 2, 1970, what is believed to be the first legally performed interracial marriage in Mississippi took place between Roger and Berta Mills. On July 21, 1970, the couple applied for a marriage license, but were denied one after the Hinds County Circuit Clerk was ordered by a judge not to do so, with the judge citing the state's 19th-century ban. The denial came at the request of the Southern National Party, a white segregationist group that had asked Circuit Judge Marshall Perry of Grenada County to deny the marriage license, as well as one to another interracial couple in Hinds County that was seeking one. However, on July 31, following what The Desert Sun reporter Hayes Johnson described as a "tense and highly publicized battle", U.S. District Judge Harold Cox ordered the circuit clerk to issue both licenses. The couple married two days later.^[1]

Of the 10 amendments on the ballot this year, Amendment 3 drew the most attention.^[2] However, before the election was held, no public debate was sparked.^[2]

House Concurrent Resolution No. 13 placed the amendment on the ballot.^[3] On January 21, 1987, the House Constitution Committee voted to approve the resolution.^[4] On January 22, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted in favor, in a 110 to 2 vote.^[5] During the week of January 30, the Mississippi House voted again, this time in a 70 to 40 vote.^[3] On March 11, the Mississippi State Senate voted to approve the amendment, while also adopting minor amendments.^[6]

Those in support had many reasons in favor of the change, including that repeal would "have image benefits",^[7] that the language was unenforceable,^[8] that it was racist,^[9] that it was outdated,^[8] and that repeal "brings the constitution in line with present practice".^[10]

Before the election was held, there was no organized opposition to any of the 10 amendments on the ballot that year.^[14] Some newspapers, such as The Clarion-Ledger, the Hattiesburg American, and the Sun Herald, supported the amendment's passage, though preferred for a constitutional convention to take place so that bigger changes could be made.^[12][13][15]

The following information was shown to voters for Amendment 3:^[16]

Amendment No. 3

House Concurrent Resolution

No. 13

This proposal repeals Section 263, which makes illegal the marriage of a white person to a person having one-eighth or more Negro blood.

For......................................( )

Against................................( )

38 counties voted in favor, and 44 voted against. The highest level of support came from Coahoma County, with 70.02% in favor, and the lowest came from Simpson County, with 35.56% of the county's vote being in favor.^[17]

The following table details the results by county:^[17]

In 2011, a poll conducted on Mississippi Republicans by Public Policy Polling asking if interracial marriage should be legal or illegal found that 40% believed it should be legal, 46% believed that it should not be, and 14% were unsure.^[18]

The following table includes some of the cross tabs of the poll:^[a]

• 1998 South Carolina Amendment 4
• 2000 Alabama Amendment 2