Carl Hines


Carl R. Hines, Sr. is a former American politician in the state of Kentucky and the first African-American to have served Louisville District 43. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1976 to 1986, as a Democrat. He attended the University of Louisville and earned a Bachelor of Science degree, and also attended Law School there. He is a real estate agent. Hines married Teresa Churchill and had four children.
In 1986, Hines lead the movement to change the wording of the Kentucky State Song, My Old Kentucky Home. In that year, a Japanese youth group visiting the Kentucky General Assembly sang the song to the legislators, using the original lyrics that included the word "darkies". Hines was offended by this and subsequently introduced a resolution that would substitute the word "people" in place of "darkies" whenever the song was used by the House of Representatives. A similar resolution was introduced by Georgia Davis Powers in the Kentucky State Senate. The resolution was adopted by both chambers.