The Grandfather Clause
It’s racist history, and we should find a different term.
I am sure you have heard the phrase and even used it on occasion. The Grandfather Clause is used in many legal situations. When new laws are created, some may be “grandfathered in.” This simply means that they do not have to follow the new rules or regulations. For example, if a school rezones its district but allows current juniors outside of the new zone to stay for their senior year. They were “grandfathered in.”
Why we need to stop using the phrase
The history of The Grandfather Clause is steeped in racism and discrimination from the Jim Crow laws of the South.
During the reconstruction period, things seemed to improve for freed slaves. In 1870, Mississippi elected the first black senator, Hiram Rhodes Revels. When the federal troops left in 1877, the Southern states were determined to take back their states. They began stripping the rights of black citizens.
Louisiana passed the first grandfather clause in 1896. They wanted to say black citizens could not vote. That would have made things easy, but the 15th Amendment passed in 1870 stated that citizens of the United States have the right to vote and cannot be denied the right based on race, color, or previous servitude. So, they…
