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A near impossible literacy test Louisiana used to suppress the black vote

(www.openculture.com)
243 points rcarmo | 12 comments | 21 Oct 24 21:29 UTC | HN request time: 1.509s | source | bottom
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inreverse ◴[22 Oct 24 04:48 UTC] No.41911288[source]▶
Leaving aside the topics of authenticity and the questions' historical context, it's interesting that the article claims that "most" of the questions are impossible, while >80% have a single clear interpretation. For example, "draw a line under the last word in this line."
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tptacek ◴[22 Oct 24 05:00 UTC] No.41911327[source]▶
Yeah? Which word do you draw the line under?
replies(1): >>41911387 #
happytoexplain ◴[22 Oct 24 05:14 UTC] No.41911387[source]▶
Is there a word trick here I'm missing? I can only interpret it in the face-value sense of underlining the last word, "line".
replies(1): >>41911396 #
1. tptacek ◴[22 Oct 24 05:15 UTC] No.41911396[source]▶
Sorry, no votes for you; it was "word".

No, wait, you needed to underline every occurrence of the word "line".

Again, no idea if this test is real, just, that's the gimmick.

replies(3): >>41911435 #>>41911503 #>>41914168 #
2. happytoexplain ◴[22 Oct 24 05:22 UTC] No.41911435[source]▶
I get that the idea is that some questions create ambiguity using wordplay or subjectivity, but do you really think this is one of them? Your examples seem like a stretch even in the context of being unfair on purpose.
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3. f1refly ◴[22 Oct 24 05:39 UTC] No.41911503[source]▶
A that point you might as well flip off whoever it is you're grading, and I get that this is the point of the test, but it's hardly the questions fault. The question has one clear answer.
4. reverius42 ◴[22 Oct 24 09:54 UTC] No.41912754[source]▶
Yes, because it is well known that these tests were in fact designed to be unfair on purpose (to a specific racial group). So it's not a stretch to think that these "unfair on purpose" examples are realistic.
5. cedilla ◴[22 Oct 24 10:02 UTC] No.41912790[source]▶
There are three reasonable interpretations I see. The instruction is clearly to draw a line under something. That something may be whatever is followed by "under", so you underline "the last word in this line". Or "in this line" just narrows it down, so only "the last word" is to be underlined. Or the whole "last word in this line" is meant as an instruction to be interpreted, so it's "line". In that case, be careful not to underline the period, as sentence marks clearly aren't part of a word. Or maybe they are.

Oh wait, it could also refer to "the last 'word' in this line", so you would need to underline "word".

6. Izkata ◴[22 Oct 24 13:41 UTC] No.41914168[source]▶
> Sorry, no votes for you; it was "word".

If it was this, there would be quotes around "word".

> No, wait, you needed to underline every occurrence of the word "line".

If it was this, it wouldn't say "last".

This particular one is not ambiguous.

replies(2): >>41914965 #>>41915581 #
7. GVIrish ◴[22 Oct 24 15:00 UTC] No.41914965[source]▶
That's not the point. The test giver has free discretion to say either answer is correct or incorrect. You could argue that if the intent was to underline "word" that it would have quotes around it, but it doesn't matter because the test is not supposed to be fair or consistent.

Things like this were at the heart of what Jim Crow was in America. Selective and capricious enforcement of the law to disenfranchise and disadvantage black people at best, enable unaccountable violence against them at the worst.

replies(1): >>41915068 #
8. Izkata ◴[22 Oct 24 15:10 UTC] No.41915068{3}[source]▶
That's a different argument than what started this thread. Cheating administrators have nothing to do with whether that question is ambiguous or not.
replies(1): >>41915211 #
9. ImPostingOnHN ◴[22 Oct 24 15:24 UTC] No.41915211{4}[source]▶
It's not cheating administrators, it's ambiguous questions with multiple possible answers.

As the judge of this test, I interpret your answer as incorrect. I expected the phrase, "the last word in this line" to be underlined. Test failed, no cheating required.

(Note that had you underlined the phrase, "the last word in this line", I would have still judged it incorrect, claiming that "word" or "line" should be underlined. Again, this requires no cheating.)

replies(1): >>41915250 #
10. Izkata ◴[22 Oct 24 15:28 UTC] No.41915250{5}[source]▶
If it was this, there would be quotes around those 6 words, just like in your comment.

The quotes are needed to change this sentence from its clear meaning to these other ones.

replies(1): >>41915752 #
11. mrguyorama ◴[22 Oct 24 15:55 UTC] No.41915581[source]▶
>If it was this, there would be quotes around "word".

And who would you argue this to? The guy giving you the test who has the freedom to fail you for any reason they want?

There's no appeals court. These tests were not tests.

12. ImPostingOnHN ◴[22 Oct 24 16:09 UTC] No.41915752{6}[source]▶
> If it was this, there would be quotes around those 6 words, just like in your comment.

If there were quotes around those 6 words, it would make the question unambiguous, sure. But without the quotes, my interpretation and judgement is still valid.

> The quotes are needed to change this sentence from its clear meaning to these other ones.

Actually, they are optional for that purpose, not required. Without them, the meaning is ambiguous. Just as you claim your interpretation is the "clear meaning", others have exactly as valid a claim to their interpretation being the "clear meaning".