Conclusion
In November 2008, Floridians who went to the polls to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States also had the chance to reverse eighty years of institutionalized discrimination against Asian Americans in their state. Asian American rights groups in Florida and nationwide distributed pamphlets, sent emails, and spoke to media outlets to build support for a ballot initiative that proposed removing the “aliens ineligible for citizenship” clause from the state constitution. There was hope that Florida could go the way of states like Kansas and New Mexico and formally remove the lingering anti-Asian language. Although the U.S. Supreme Court rendered legislative measures to prevent aliens ineligible for citizenship from owning land unconstitutional in 1952, the connection between the continued presence of this outdated language in the constitution and the legacy of anti-Asian sentiment was clear—this would be a symbolic victory that would signal a purge of de jure if not de facto prejudice and racism aimed at Asian Americans. Because Florida’s anti-alien legislation was enshrined in the constitution, 60 percent of voters would have to approve the initiative in order to remove the discriminatory language from the first amendment and insert neutral language specifying property rights for all. Surely, in the twenty-first century, Floridians would recognize the outdated and discriminatory portion of their constitution and vote to move the law of their land beyond the limits of the past....