It was mentioned in the comments that the ammendment to the Alabama constitution removing the requirement for segregated schools and the requirement of a poll tax is headed for a recount and is likely to fail narrowly.

A little bit of investegation shows that those against the ammendment claim that they're worried that by removing the clause saying that explains that saying there will be segregated schools does not mean to imply that there will be any right to an education at all. Apparently people are worried that if there's a right to an education, then there might be a right to a decent education for everyone, which could lead to tax increases (to pay for underfunded, read black, schools).

In other alabama news, in looking all this up I ran accross the 2000 election's real doozy in alabama. The ammendment eliminating the anti-miscegenation portion of the constitution passed by a resounding vote of 60%-40%. In a state that is 75% white voters, that means that around half of white people in Alabama actually voted to get rid of anti-miscegenation. We're making progress!

Remember this the next time people tell you southerners aren't bigots, and don't hate blacks, gays, and muslims. I'm sure a lot of them aren't bigots, BUT HALF THE WHITE PEOPLE IN THE STATE OF ALABAMA ARE FOR ANTI-MISCEGENATION LAWS!

Oh yeah, here are some links on the anti-miscegenation business: the text of the ammendment and the results of the vote