Not until the latter were safely
registered under the "grandfather clause," was the educational clause
applied, and as, under this clause, the would-be voter must read and
write _to the satisfaction of his examiner_, the negro's chance to get
suffrage was still more reduced.
The United States Supreme Court has, I believe, held that the
educational clause does not constitute race discrimination.
As though the above measures were not sufficient, it is further required
that, in order to vote at November elections in Alabama, voters must pay
a small voluntary poll tax. This tax, however, must be paid each year
before February first--that is, about nine months before elections
actually take place. The negro has never been distinguished for his
foresightedness with a dollar, and, to make matters harder for him, this
tax is cumulative from the year 1901, so that a man who wishes to begin
to vote this year, and can qualify in other respects, must pay a tax
amounting to nearly twenty dollars.
These measures give Alabama, as my informant put it, a "very exclusive
electorate." With a population of approximately two millions, the
greatest number of votes ever cast by the State was 125,000. Of this
number, 531 votes were those of negroes, "representing" a colored
population of 840,000!
The gentleman who explained these matters also told me a story
illustrative of the old-time Southerner's attitude toward the negro in
politics.
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