1976 Missouri Amendment 5

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1976 Missouri Amendment 5
Flag of Missouri.svg
3 August 1976
Repeals provision of Missouri Constitution which provides "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, except in cases otherwise provided for by law."
1976 Missouri Amendment 5 results map by county.svg
Results
Choice
Votes%
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes598,89757.53%
Light brown x.svgNo442,10342.47%

1976 Missouri Amendment 5 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Missouri to repeal the state's defunct provision requiring separate schools for white and colored children. The amendment was symbolic, as school segregation had been federally illegal since Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Placed on the ballot by Senate Joint Resolution No. 40, the measure was approved with 57.53% of the vote, though 56 of the state's 114 counties voted against. Supporters included state senators Franklin Payne and Maurice Schechter, while the amendment faced no organized opposition.

Contents

Background

Origin

The constitutional provision authorizing segregated schools for white and black children was drafted in 1945. [1]

Brown v. Board of Education

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a unanimous decision that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional; the Court rationed that such laws were in violation of both the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. [2] Its decision rendered Missouri's provision moot. [1]

Repeal statistics

Three previous attempts to remove the clause failed. At the time of repeal, Missouri was one of 12 states to have a similar law in their state constitution. Some legislators thought the provision was of little importance, while others believed Missouri may have been nationally embarrassed if the referendum failed. [3]

Legislation for Amendment 5

Senate Joint Resolution No. 40 (SJR 40) and House Joint Resolution No. 64 (HJR 64) placed the measure on the ballot. SJR 40 was introduced by State Senators Franklin Payne and George E. Murray, while HJR 64 was introduced by Representatives P. Wayne Goode and S.L. Piekarski, Jr. [4]

Viewpoints

Support

Legislators

State Senator Franklin Payne , an author of one of the bills that placed the amendment on the ballot, believed it was important to repeal this "objectionable and oppressive language from the constitution." [3]

State Senator Maurice Schechter "always" believed the provision should be repealed "because there was no reason to have it there anymore." However, Schechter "thought there would be enough people mad about it to defeat it. They're mad about busing." He felt that some of the negative votes had likely come from confusion, saying, "I never heard anybody talk about it before the election, but I had a feeling it would run into trouble, just like it did in Oklahoma. A lot of voters probably knew nothing about it and voted their first impulse when they saw it on the ballot." [1]

Zack F. Bettis, President of the Missouri State Board of Education believed that repeal of the defunct clause was "long overdue" and he was "happy that this separate but equal concept has had no significant meaning in Missouri's public schools for many years." [3]

Organizations

The Missouri State Board of Education endorsed the amendment. [3]

Newspapers

The Columbia Daily Tribune endorsed the amendment, summarizing it as the removal of "an old section in the constitution proving for racially separate schools" that was "[m]ade moot by the U.S. Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation." [5]

The Wentzville Union described the existing language as a "vestige of the days of Jim Crow" and said that passage of Amendment 5 would "erase this embarrassing clause." [6]

The Neosho Daily News believed that the amendment spoke for itself, and that it should be approved "to repeal this outdated provision." [7]

Opposition

The amendment faced no organized opposition. [3] However, some Missouri politicians privately predicted that voters would reject the amendment because it would be considered by many a referendum on integration. [3] And, The Daily Standard, in an editorial, said that they were going to vote against Amendment 5. [8]

Contents

The following information was shown to voters for the measure: [9]

CONSTITUTIONAL

AMENDMENT NO. 5

(Submitted by the 78th General Assembly)

(Second Regular Session)

Repeals provision of Missouri Constitution which provides "Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, except in cases otherwise provided for by law."

[] YES

[] NO

INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS

If you are in favor of this proposition, place an X in the box opposite "YES". If you are opposed to this proposition, place an X in the box opposite "NO".

Results

A report including the election results of certain Missouri counties, and the independent city of St. Louis, of the 7 constitutional amendments on the ballot on August 3, 1976. It also includes summaries of the 7 amendments. Official Manual of the State of Missouri 1977 - 1978 Page 1257.png
A report including the election results of certain Missouri counties, and the independent city of St. Louis, of the 7 constitutional amendments on the ballot on August 3, 1976. It also includes summaries of the 7 amendments.

The following table details the results by county: [10] [11] [12]

CountyYesNo
#%#%
Adair 2,64858.741,86041.26
Andrew 1,81344.742,23955.26
Atchison 96041.251,36758.75
Audrain 3,85058.612,71941.39
Barry 2,68249.412,74650.59
Barton 1,14750.311,13349.69
Bates 1,83242.452,48457.55
Benton 1,65049.641,67450.36
Bollinger 75438.591,20061.41
Boone 11,61670.174,93729.83
Buchanan 11,47754.039,76545.97
Butler 2,71750.482,66549.52
Caldwell 1,10142.741,47557.26
Callaway 3,01057.572,21842.43
Camden 2,55450.822,47249.18
Cape Girardeau 7,97361.724,94638.28
Carroll 1,59545.291,92754.71
Carter 54848.5458151.46
Cass 4,59049.144,75050.86
Cedar 1,57051.311,49048.69
Chariton 2,04750.911,97449.09
Christian 2,76049.722,79150.28
Clark 59241.0884958.92
Clay 12,04052.8210,75647.18
Clinton 2,33852.552,11147.45
Cole 10,48169.474,60730.53
Cooper 1,86554.261,57245.74
Crawford 1,65248.691,74151.31
Dade 1,17053.551,01546.45
Dallas 1,13538.191,83761.81
Daviess 1,07042.561,44457.44
DeKalb 1,08246.221,25953.78
Dent 1,23838.871,94761.13
Douglas 1,30444.901,60055.10
Dunklin 3,21354.782,65245.22
Franklin 7,75659.525,27640.48
Gasconade 2,13555.531,71044.47
Gentry 1,05445.141,28154.86
Greene 27,04265.9613,95834.04
Grundy 1,46943.941,87456.06
Harrison 1,16941.711,63458.29
Henry 2,98149.683,02050.32
Hickory 78843.201,03656.80
Holt 84441.991,16658.01
Howard 1,45653.991,24146.01
Howell 2,69752.672,42447.33
Iron 1,44749.221,49350.78
Jackson 58,79453.9650,16646.04
Jasper 8,22656.516,33043.49
Jefferson 14,70358.8910,26441.11
Johnson 3,20054.842,63545.16
Knox 64450.4363349.57
Laclede 2,44146.282,83353.72
Lafayette 3,76654.713,11845.29
Lawrence 3,93058.962,73541.04
Lewis 1,13547.491,25552.51
Lincoln 2,77149.352,84450.65
Linn 2,26848.132,44451.87
Livingston 2,87255.642,29044.36
Macon 2,05750.182,04249.82
Madison 96747.361,07552.64
Maries 92139.901,38760.10
Marion 4,37558.133,15141.87
McDonald 1,26144.251,58955.75
Mercer 47839.3773660.63
Miller 1,89347.602,08452.40
Mississippi 1,75849.761,77550.24
Moniteau 1,77952.321,62147.68
Monroe 1,81558.041,31241.96
Montgomery 1,58157.241,18142.76
Morgan 1,38050.291,36449.71
New Madrid 2,63452.512,38247.49
Newton 2,55949.142,64950.86
Nodaway 3,08253.262,70546.74
Oregon 1,07445.051,31054.95
Osage 2,11855.041,73044.96
Ozark 85548.7789851.23
Pemiscot 2,19553.421,91446.58
Perry 2,71660.451,77739.55
Pettis 4,74251.294,50348.71
Phelps 4,17059.082,88840.92
Pike 2,32153.552,01346.45
Platte 5,21054.434,36245.57
Polk 2,43858.081,76041.92
Pulaski 2,28949.582,32850.42
Putnam 63045.1376654.87
Ralls 1,17147.781,28052.22
Randolph 3,48355.082,84044.92
Ray 2,72049.092,82150.91
Reynolds 83538.531,33261.47
Ripley 90244.351,13255.65
St. Charles 18,21064.4810,03235.52
St. Clair 95842.331,30557.67
St. Francois 5,49354.254,63245.75
St. Louis County 163,63266.1483,78533.86
St. Louis City 41,48659.5328,20540.47
Ste. Genevieve 2,15562.521,29237.48
Saline 3,79251.953,50748.05
Schuyler 66846.9475553.06
Scotland 62338.241,00661.76
Scott 4,77455.243,86844.76
Shannon 74538.521,18961.48
Shelby 1,21450.101,20949.90
Stoddard 2,49745.093,04154.91
Stone 1,76555.611,40944.39
Sullivan 85040.571,24559.43
Taney 3,01657.102,26642.90
Texas 2,34343.363,06156.64
Vernon 2,64553.092,33746.91
Warren 1,92258.581,35941.42
Washington 1,44549.381,48150.62
Wayne 1,04840.291,55359.71
Webster 1,63649.321,68150.68
Worth 42434.1781765.83
Wright 1,48543.901,89856.10
Total598,89757.53442,10342.47

Aftermath and analysis

The measure repealed Section 1(a), article IX, and replaced it with a section of the same subject. [13]

Section 1(a). Separate schools shall be provided for white and colored children, except in cases otherwise provided for by law.A general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, the general assembly shall establish and maintain free public schools for the gratuitous instruction of all persons in this state within ages not in excess of twenty-one years as prescribed by law.

Vote analysis

The measure failed in mostly-rural counties, and easily passed in more urbanized counties, such as St. Louis, St. Charles, Greene, Buchanan, Platte, and Clay. [1]

Boone County

Although Boone County had the highest percentage of votes cast in favor of the amendment, with 70.2%, [14] the Columbia Daily Tribune , in an editorial, focused on those in opposition. The Tribune analyzed that although the amendment had been defunct for over two decades, nearly 5,000 Boone Countians had voted to keep the language in the constitution. This, the Tribune said, "indicates either a gross ignorance of the issue or die-hard racism, either of which is sad to see." [15]

Jackson County

Incorrect calls

Both the Kansas City Times and TheKansas City Star prematurely declared that the amendment had failed in Jackson County. The Kansas City Times reported that it had been opposed by 50.7% of voters, [16] and The Kansas City Star said that it had failed with 48,640 votes cast in support, and 50,020 in opposition. [17] Returns released by the Missouri Secretary of State show that the amendment received 58,794 votes in favor, and 50,166 against (53.96% to 46.04%). [10] Similarly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch also prematurely put Jackson County in the fail column, and they also said the amendment had failed in 47 of the state's 114 counties. [1] It actually failed in 56. [18]

African Americans in Kansas City

An analysis of votes cast by African Americans in the inner-city part of Kansas City showed that many voted against repealing the ban. Harold Holliday Jr., the leader of Freedom, Inc., said that the result was most likely because of voters' natural inclination to be against any and all amendments. [16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Shirk, Martha (August 8, 1976). "Vote On Segregating Schools Is Embarrassing To Officials". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Brown v. Board of Education (1954)". National Archives. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mitchell, T. Wayne (July 27, 1976). "State Voters to Be Asked To Outlaw Segregation". Newspapers. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  4. ↑ "1976 Senate Journal, Volume 2". Missouri Digital Heritage. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Tribune endorsements". Columbia Daily Tribune . August 1, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  6. ↑ "The Seven Amendments". The Wentzville Union. July 28, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  7. ↑ "The amendments deserve attention". The Neosho Daily News . August 2, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  8. ↑ "POOR CHARLIE SAYS!". The Daily Standard. August 1, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Here's the lineup of ballots you'll face at the polls Tuesday..." Springfield News-Leader . August 2, 1976. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
  10. 1 2 "VOTE ON PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS NOS. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, AND 7 AT SPECIAL ELECTION TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1976". Missouri Digital Heritage . 1978. p. 1255. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  11. ↑ "PRIMARY ELECTION RETURNS". Missouri Digital Heritage . 1978. p. 1256. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  12. ↑ "VOTE ON PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS". Missouri Digital Heritage . 1978. p. 1978. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Proposed Amendments to the Constitution of Missouri". Reynolds County Courier. June 24, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  14. ↑ "1976 Referendum Open Primary Election Results - Missouri". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Archived from the original on October 5, 2025. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  15. ↑ "The seven amendments". Columbia Daily Tribune . August 6, 1976. Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Garron, Barry (August 11, 1976). "Blacks Against Change In Segregation Wording". Kansas City Times . Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  17. ↑ Schlinkmann, Mark (August 4, 1976). "Voters Soundly Reject Aid to Private Schools". The Kansas City Star . Retrieved January 25, 2026.
  18. ↑ "1976 Referendum Open Primary Election Results - Missouri". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections . Retrieved January 25, 2026.
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