Most Ohioans are proud slavery has been banned in the state since the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. For that reason, we don’t give much thought to what might still be lurking in our lawbooks. But the Buckeye State is still among more than a dozen states (and the U.S. Constitution) that includes language creating an exception. Here, “involuntary servitude” is still legal if it is used as a punishment for a crime.

There is, finally, momentum to change that, and today — when our nation marks the latest federal holiday of Juneteenth — is a good day to promote it. Juneteenth, of course, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans.

Now, state Reps. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus, and Phil Plummer, R-Dayton, are supporting a proposed amendment that would prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude in Ohio with no exceptions, according to a report by The Columbus Dispatch. So far, 30 lawmakers — on both sides of the aisle — have signed on to support the resolution.

Should it pass both the state House and Senate, it would move to a statewide ballot so that Ohio voters can have the final word in the matter.

“This founding document is a guide for who we are as Ohioans,” Jarrells told the Dispatch. “To have this language still exist in our constitution, what are we saying to people who look like me?”

In listening to the concerns of some other lawmakers, Jarrells chose to add language to the proposal that says Ohio courts and probation agencies can order people convicted of crimes to “engage in education, counseling, treatment, community service, or other alternatives to incarceration” as part of their sentence, according to the Dispatch. Good.

“We can’t rewrite history, but what we can write is a better history for our children, grandchildren for years and generations to come,” Jarrells said.

He’s right; and it is encouraging to see so many lawmakers lining up in agreement. Surely the rest will see the wisdom in allowing Ohioans to decide whether this part of the state’s constitution should be made history.