1976 Missouri Amendment 5
3 August 1976
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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." | ||||||||||
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1976 Missouri Amendment 5, also known as the Repeal Segregated Schools Measure,[1] 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. The amendment was approved in a 57.53% to 42.47% vote.
Background
Senate Joint Resolution No. 40 (SJR 40) and House Joint Resolution No. 64 (HJR 64) placed the amendment on the ballot.
SJR 40 was introduced by Senator Franklin Payne and Senator Murray, and HJR 64 was introduced by Representative P. Wayne Goode and Representative S.L. Piekarski, Jr.[2]
Viewpoints
State Senator Franklin Payne, an author of the bill that placed the amendment on the ballot, believed it was important to remove this "objectionable and oppressive language from the constitution."[3]
State Senator Maurice Schechter: "I've always thought it should come out of the Constitution because there was no reason to have it there anymore. But I thought there would be enough people mad about it to defeat it. They're mad about busing." Schechter 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."[4]
Zack F. Bettis, President of the state Board of Education: "Repeal of this provision is long overdue and I'm happy that this separate but equal concept has had no significant meaning in Missouri's public schools for many years."[3]
Results
| County | Yes % | No % | Total vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adair County | 58.7 | 41.3 | 4,508 |
| Andrew County | 44.7 | 55.3 | 4,052 |
| Atchison County | 41.3 | 58.7 | 2,327 |
| Audrain County | 58.6 | 41.4 | 6,569 |
| Barry County | 49.4 | 50.6 | 5,428 |
| Barton County | 50.3 | 49.7 | 2,280 |
| Bates County | 42.4 | 57.6 | 4,316 |
| Benton County | 49.6 | 50.4 | 3,324 |
| Bollinger County | 38.6 | 61.4 | 1,954 |
| Boone County | 70.2 | 29.8 | 16,553 |
| Buchanan County | 54.0 | 46.0 | 21,242 |
| Butler County | 50.5 | 49.5 | 5,382 |
| Caldwell County | 42.7 | 57.3 | 2,576 |
| Callaway County | 57.6 | 42.4 | 5,228 |
| Camden County | 50.8 | 49.2 | 5,026 |
| Cape Girardeau County | 61.7 | 38.3 | 12,919 |
| Carroll County | 45.3 | 54.7 | 3,522 |
| Carter County | 48.5 | 51.5 | 1,129 |
| Cass County | 49.1 | 50.9 | 9,340 |
| Cedar County | 51.3 | 48.7 | 3,060 |
| Chariton County | 50.9 | 49.1 | 4,021 |
| Christian County | 49.7 | 50.3 | 5,551 |
| Clark County | 41.1 | 58.9 | 1,441 |
| Clay County | 52.8 | 47.2 | 22,796 |
| Clinton County | 52.6 | 47.4 | 4,449 |
| Cole County | 69.5 | 30.5 | 15,088 |
| Cooper County | 54.3 | 45.7 | 3,437 |
| Crawford County | 48.7 | 51.3 | 3,393 |
| Dade County | 53.5 | 46.5 | 2,185 |
| Dallas County | 38.2 | 61.8 | 2,972 |
| Daviess County | 42.6 | 57.4 | 2,514 |
| DeKalb County | 46.2 | 53.8 | 2,341 |
| Dent County | 38.9 | 61.1 | 3,185 |
| Douglas County | 44.9 | 55.1 | 2,904 |
| Dunklin County | 54.8 | 45.2 | 5,865 |
| Franklin County | 59.5 | 40.5 | 13,032 |
| Gasconade County | 55.5 | 44.5 | 3,845 |
| Gentry County | 45.1 | 54.9 | 2,335 |
| Greene County | 66.0 | 34.0 | 41,000 |
| Grundy County | 43.9 | 56.1 | 3,343 |
| Harrison County | 41.7 | 58.3 | 2,803 |
| Henry County | 49.7 | 50.3 | 6,001 |
| Hickory County | 43.2 | 56.8 | 1,824 |
| Holt County | 42.0 | 58.0 | 2,010 |
| Howard County | 54.0 | 46.0 | 2,697 |
| Howell County | 52.7 | 47.3 | 5,121 |
| Iron County | 49.2 | 50.8 | 2,940 |
| Jackson County | 54.0 | 46.0 | 108,960 |
| Jasper County | 56.5 | 43.5 | 14,556 |
| Jefferson County | 58.9 | 41.1 | 24,967 |
| Johnson County | 54.8 | 45.2 | 5,835 |
| Knox County | 50.4 | 49.6 | 1,277 |
| Laclede County | 46.3 | 53.7 | 5,274 |
| Lafayette County | 54.7 | 45.3 | 6,884 |
| Lawrence County | 59.0 | 41.0 | 6,665 |
| Lewis County | 47.5 | 52.5 | 2,390 |
| Lincoln County | 49.3 | 50.7 | 5,615 |
| Linn County | 48.1 | 51.9 | 4,712 |
| Livingston County | 55.6 | 44.4 | 5,162 |
| Macon County | 50.2 | 49.8 | 4,099 |
| Madison County | 47.4 | 52.6 | 2,042 |
| Maries County | 39.9 | 60.1 | 2,308 |
| Marion County | 58.1 | 41.9 | 7,526 |
| McDonald County | 44.2 | 55.8 | 2,850 |
| Mercer County | 39.4 | 60.6 | 1,214 |
| Miller County | 47.6 | 52.4 | 3,977 |
| Mississippi County | 49.8 | 50.2 | 3,533 |
| Moniteau County | 52.3 | 47.7 | 3,400 |
| Monroe County | 58.0 | 42.0 | 3,127 |
| Montgomery County | 57.2 | 42.8 | 2,762 |
| Morgan County | 50.3 | 49.7 | 2,744 |
| New Madrid County | 52.5 | 47.5 | 5,016 |
| Newton County | 49.1 | 50.9 | 5,208 |
| Nodaway County | 53.3 | 46.7 | 5,787 |
| Oregon County | 45.1 | 54.9 | 2,384 |
| Osage County | 55.0 | 45.0 | 3,848 |
| Ozark County | 48.8 | 51.2 | 1,753 |
| Pemiscot County | 53.4 | 46.6 | 4,109 |
| Perry County | 60.4 | 39.6 | 4,493 |
| Pettis County | 51.3 | 48.7 | 9,245 |
| Phelps County | 59.1 | 40.9 | 7,058 |
| Pike County | 53.6 | 46.4 | 4,334 |
| Platte County | 54.4 | 45.6 | 9,572 |
| Polk County | 58.1 | 41.9 | 4,198 |
| Pulaski County | 49.6 | 50.4 | 4,617 |
| Putnam County | 45.1 | 54.9 | 1,396 |
| Ralls County | 47.8 | 52.2 | 2,451 |
| Randolph County | 55.1 | 44.9 | 6,323 |
| Ray County | 49.1 | 50.9 | 5,541 |
| Reynolds County | 38.5 | 61.5 | 2,167 |
| Ripley County | 44.3 | 55.7 | 2,034 |
| Saint Charles County | 64.5 | 35.5 | 28,242 |
| Saint Clair County | 42.3 | 57.7 | 2,263 |
| Saint Francois County | 54.3 | 45.7 | 10,125 |
| Saint Louis County | 66.1 | 33.9 | 247,417 |
| Saint Louis City | 59.5 | 40.5 | 69,691 |
| Sainte Genevieve County | 62.5 | 37.5 | 3,447 |
| Saline County | 52.0 | 48.0 | 7,299 |
| Schuyler County | 46.9 | 53.1 | 1,423 |
| Scotland County | 38.2 | 61.8 | 1,629 |
| Scott County | 55.2 | 44.8 | 8,642 |
| Shannon County | 38.5 | 61.5 | 1,934 |
| Shelby County | 50.1 | 49.9 | 2,423 |
| Stoddard County | 45.1 | 54.9 | 5,538 |
| Stone County | 55.6 | 44.4 | 3,174 |
| Sullivan County | 40.6 | 59.4 | 2,095 |
| Taney County | 57.1 | 42.9 | 5,282 |
| Texas County | 43.4 | 56.6 | 5,404 |
| Vernon County | 53.1 | 46.9 | 4,982 |
| Warren County | 58.6 | 41.4 | 3,281 |
| Washington County | 49.4 | 50.6 | 2,926 |
| Wayne County | 40.3 | 59.7 | 2,601 |
| Webster County | 49.3 | 50.7 | 3,317 |
| Worth County | 34.2 | 65.8 | 1,241 |
| Wright County | 43.9 | 56.1 | 3,383 |
| State total | 57.53 | 42.47 | 1,041,000[5] |
See also
References
- ^ "Missouri Amendment 5, Repeal Segregated Schools Measure (August 1976)". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on October 3, 2025. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
- ^ "1976 Senate Journal, Volume 2". Missouri Digital Heritage. Retrieved October 28, 2025.
- ^ a b Mitchell, T. Wayne (July 27, 1976). "State Voters to Be Asked To Outlaw Segregation". Newspapers. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
- ^ Shirk, Martha (August 8, 1976). "Vote On Segregating Schools Is Embarrassing To Officials". Newspapers. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
- ^ "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.