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

There's obvious utility in learning about the specific tools and methods that have been successfully employed in the past to enforce covert oppression in a democracy, so we can collectively protect against them.

If you want a more down-to-earth argument: it's just plain interesting and there's good constructive discussion to be had about it.

PS: The website is called Open Culture: The best free cultural & education media on the web. I'm not sure what you mean by "tech blog", if you are referring to HN, non-tech posts are fairly common here and they are valued.

>There's obvious utility in learning about the specific tools and methods that have b

Because these tests are in widespread use today?

If you have to root around in the distant past to demonstrate a present grievance, maybe you don't have one.