NORTHFIELD NEWS — Is slavery in Minnesota possible?
The ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865 abolishing slavery outlawed it everywhere in the country.
However, since 1858, Article I, Section 2 of the Minnesota Constitution has read: “There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the state otherwise than as a punishment for a crime of which the party has been convicted.”
A bill sponsored by Rep. John Lesch (DFL-St. Paul), proposes to ask voters in November’s general election whether to amend the state constitution to delete references to slavery and involuntary servitude as being possible punishments for a crime.
…
Christopher Lehman, professor of ethnic studies at St. Cloud State University, testified that the words in the state constitution “problematically suggest the possibility of legal enslavement of convicts” and need to be removed for that reason alone.
But an even more important reason to remove them, Lehman said, is to excise the shameful legacy of slavery and its harmful effects that remain in Minnesota today.
