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

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244 points rcarmo | 2 comments | 21 Oct 24 21:29 UTC | HN request time: 0.521s | source
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jiriknesl ◴[22 Oct 24 08:33 UTC] No.41912334[source]▶
I know, from a human rights point of view, this is very problematic. But imagine, if only people who can really understand written text, who can calculate, who understand how legal system works, who have basics of logic could vote.

Of course, those tests shouldn't be that ambiguous, but if they were phrased a bit more clear, these would be very simple. At the same time, English has changed in the last 50 years. That phrasing might have been common back then.

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krapp ◴[22 Oct 24 09:33 UTC] No.41912651[source]▶
Any test you can imagine would still be used to favor the rich and powerful, and to oppress and disenfranchise undesirables.

It doesn't matter how rational it seems. Government - particularly the racist oligarchy that is the US government - cannot be trusted to act with rational benevolence.

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1. marcusverus ◴[22 Oct 24 11:43 UTC] No.41913317[source]▶
That's a scary-sounding hypothetical. It's nowhere near as scary as the current reality, wherein the course of our civilization is decided by illiterates and nincompoops.
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2. tombert ◴[22 Oct 24 16:22 UTC] No.41915905[source]▶
Why shouldn't illiterates and nincompoops have a say?

There are politicians that I think are morons (without naming specifics, think about any politician that you think is dumb), and that only morons would vote for, but morons live here too, and they're affected by the laws as well. Shouldn't they have some say in how things are run?

I know the "two wolves and a sheep choosing dinner" argument, but I think giving some voice to everyone is pretty important. People deserve to have their voices heard.