Local Fox station under fire for ‘unreal’ on-air graphic on slavery ban

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A local Fox channel in Tennessee has copped criticism for an on-air graphic that declared the state had voted to ban slavery.

“You decide: Slavery banned,” wrote Fox 13 Memphis on Twitter just after the race was called just after midnight on election night.

The jarring wording of the Fox graphic angered and surprised some Twitter users.

“I cannot with this graphic,” wrote Washington Post race and ethnicity reporter Emmanuel Felton.

“Trust me, staring at that amendment when I went to vote today was surreal af,” another wrote in reply.

Others were stunned that slavery was still legal as a form of capitol punishment in the state.

“Good but unreal that it was still on the books!”

“I don’t know. Am I happy or horrified to live here?”

Tennessee was one of four states voting on amendments to ban forced prison labour. Alabama and Vermont also voted to outlaw the practice, while in Oregon it remained too close to call.

With 65 per cent of the vote counted, 79.7 per cent supported the Amendment 3 that removes language allowing slavery and involuntary servitude as forms of punishment for those convicted of crimes in Tennessee.

Organisers of the “Yes on 3” campaign celebrated the overwhelming victory in a statement on Tuesday night.

“For the first time since 1870, our constitution will no longer protect the institution of slavery,” the group said. “A bipartisan effort years in the making, we could not be more proud of the citizens of Tennessee for agreeing that slavery has no place in our state.”