Article VII, Section 7 of the Texas Constitution
This section was repealed August 5, 1969.
Editor Comments
As adopted in 1876, this section read: "Separate schools shall be provided for the white and colored children, and impartial provision shall be made for both."
The former section, never amended, mandated that so-called "separate but equal" educational facilities be provided for the state's African-American children.
Categorized as "deadwood," it and numerous other sections were repealed by the same ballot proposition.
Recent Decisions
None.
Historic Decisions
- McKinney v. Blankenship, 282 S.W.2d 691, 695 (Tex. 1955) ("Even a casual reading of Section 7 of Article VII of the Constitution and Article 2900 of the statutes will make clear that they have a two-fold purpose: they require segregation of white and Negro students in the public schools of this state and they require that equal and impartial provision be made for the education of both. . . . When the language of the Court is so limited it will be evident that what the Court condemned as unconstitutional and void, and all it condemned, was constitutional, statutory, and local law provisions which require or permit forced segregation through and by governmental officers and agencies.")
Library Resources
- Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (multi-volume and up-to-date resource available at all law and many municipal libraries)
- The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (one-volume resource available at most law and some municipal libraries)
- The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (two-volume resource available at most law and some municipal libraries)
Online Resources
- Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (resource published online and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)
- Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (resource published online and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)
- Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (resource published online and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)