The function of such tests was to invoke the grandfather clause
Are you sure? The Slate article did not mention that as the function. According to the test:
This test is to be given to anyone who cannot prove a fifth grade education.
The Slate article doesn’t mention grandfather clauses either, instead saying:
The literacy test—supposedly applicable to both white and black prospective voters who couldn’t prove a certain level of education but in actuality disproportionately administered to black voters—was a classic example of one of these barriers.
The Slate article did not mention that as the function.
The Wikipedia article I linked discusses this; this one mentions Louisiana’s literacy test specifically.
The tests were never intended to verify mental competence or education; the grandfather clauses make this clear. Their purpose was to provide a pretext for disfranchisement of former slaves and the descendants of slaves.
Really. The past sucks.
“History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”
Are you sure? The Slate article did not mention that as the function. According to the test:
The Slate article doesn’t mention grandfather clauses either, instead saying:
The Wikipedia article I linked discusses this; this one mentions Louisiana’s literacy test specifically.
The tests were never intended to verify mental competence or education; the grandfather clauses make this clear. Their purpose was to provide a pretext for disfranchisement of former slaves and the descendants of slaves.
Really. The past sucks.
“History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”
Oops. You are right.