DOVER – Delaware’s Constitution now includes protections against discrimination for people of all ethnicities after the House unanimously passed an Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday.
Senate Bill 31 adds the words “race, color and national origin” to the state Constitution’s equal rights clause, making the document more inclusive, spelling out protections as described in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The ERA bill is one of eight proposals included in the Justice for All Agenda laid out by the Delaware Legislative Black Caucus.
“In this moment in history, I am overjoyed to create protections for People of Color in the First State, set forth by Our God and the 14th Amendment. Sen. Karen Peterson worked tirelessly to bring about this change in our State in 2016. I am honored to carry this importance piece of legislation, on which my fellow St. Elizabeth Alum worked. It is only right that we highlight the importance of equality by setting the example with law that prohibits any type of discrimination,” said Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker, the lead House sponsor of SB 31. “Today, we moved closer to changing the course of history in the State of Delaware by adding People of Color as a protected class to the state’s Constitution.”
Thursday’s approval in the House follows a successful unanimous vote in the Senate last week. SB 31 is the second leg of a constitutional amendment, with the first leg passing in the 150th General Assembly in 2020.
“With today’s vote in the House, all people – no matter their skin color and no matter their background – are now guaranteed the basic rights and dignity they have been promised for generations,” said Senator Darius Brown, the prime sponsor of Senate Bill 31. “The U.S. Constitution says we are all equal. Various sections of state law say we are all equal. And we know in our hearts that we are equally endowed by our Creator with the same inalienable rights. Now, at long last, the founding document of Delaware will reflect that basic universal fact of equality, once and for all.”
Equal protections under the law are guaranteed in Delaware under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but their absence from the state Constitution remains a glaring omission, particularly given the First State’s marred history on the issue of equal rights. Delaware did not ratify all three Reconstruction Amendments until 1901 – more than 30 years after they became the law of the United States.
With passage of SB 31, Delaware joins a handful of states that include provisions in their own constitutions to prohibit the denial or abridgement of equal rights under law on the basis of race, color or national origin.
“Once again, all members of this elective body made clear that equality of rights will not be denied to any Delawarean on account of their race, color, or national origin,” said Senator Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes. “To my fellow Senators, I say in my native Spanish: Gracias y sigamos avanzando unidos con humildad y respeto por todos.”
Constitutional amendments do not require the governor’s signature; they take effect after final passage through the General Assembly.
In 2019, lawmakers passed an Equal Rights Amendment to the state Constitution guaranteeing protections against discrimination based on sex.
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