#literacy test

[eddieheart]

I had to write an article for my literacy test equivalent and... this is what I came up with.

[todaysdocument]

“Now before any Negro can register [to vote] he must go into a little side room and read and write to the entire satisfaction of one or two white men  . . . “ Letter from C. Dearborn to Pres. Taft, 7/18/1912

File Unit: 150719-62, Section 2, 1904 - 1974

Series: Straight Numerical Files, 1904 - 1974

Record Group 60: General Records of the Department of Justice, 1790 - 2002

Transcription:

"Hottentot"

AN EXTERNAL REMEDY

SERIAL NO. 30154.

[stamp] JULY 24 9-23 AM 1912

[stamp] THE WHITE HOUSE / JUL 21 1912 / RECEIVED

[handwritten] Justice

[stamp] RESPECTFULLY REFERRED FOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND CONSIDERATION

"HOTTENTOT" will afford quick and valuable relief for Headache, Neuralgia, Rheumatism, Pleurisy, Pneumonia, Indigestion, Acute Indigestion, Congestion, Female Complaints, Asthma, Diarrhoea, Cramps, Colic, Tonsilitis, Eczema, Piles, Erysipelas, Bronchitis, Gout, Peritonitis, Cerebro Spinal Meningitis, Ringworm, Sore Eyes Soft Corns, Bunions, etc.

"Hottentot" is manufactured only by C. DEARMAN, Tulsa, Oklahoma. P.O. Box 183.

OFFICE 212 N. FRANKFORT ST.

TELEPHONE 1188.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. A. 7/18/12.

Hon, W.H. Taft, President of the United States of America.

Washington, D.C.

Honored Sir: -- I am asking you in the interest of the qualified Negro voters of the State of Oklahoma and more [word struck out] especially the city of Tulsa, Okla to arrange with the Department of Justice in a way whereby immediate action will be taken to secure the right of every qualified Ngro voter in the State of Oklahoma and especially in the city of Tulsa, Okla. to vote in the coming elections without being intimidated and otherwise prevented from voting.

The tactics of the election officials in the city of Tulsa, Okla. now, are as follows: As pertaining to the Negroes each and every one must register only at the court house, regardless of how many times they have here-to-fore voted,.

It is stated by the election officials that any one not registering during the present registration will not under any circumstances be allowed to vote in the coming election,

Now before any Negro can register he must go into a little side room and read and write to the entire satisfaction of one or two white men, if it takes six hours continuous reading and writing to satisfy them there is no one to object but the Negro trying to become qualified to vote, and his objections dont amount to anything unless he pledges to support the democratic ticket, the majority if not all of which the election officials are. [Words struck out] they allowed my writing to pass which is very poor and which you will find enclosed, they refused to allow other negroes waiting to pass that to my mind is much better than my writing, Why? because I kick good and hard when ever it is necessary, and vote just as I please. But the majority of negroes will not kick either [letter struck out] thru fear or indifference and those are the ones that I am praying and pleading for. The question that I often ask my self is, that if the continued oppression of and the discrimination against the negro should at some future day cause war, would those that are foremost in oppressing and discriminating against the negro, be foremost on the battle field, [word struck out] well I have an idea that they would be the very first to beat a hasty retreat at the first sound of the bugle.

Hoping that immediate action will be taken,

Very truly yours.

[signed] C. Dearman.

[stamp] RECORDS

[stamp] 150719-62 / DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE / JUL 24 1912 / MAIL & FILES DIVISION / Harr-Logan / ACTION

[sweetmeatdale]

Any of you fuckers ever learn to read?

Yes. The Promethian curse of knowledge is endless.

👉 🔴

Voting ended onMay 6, 2023

[thebitterflamingo]

That moment when you realize you wouldn’t have been able to vote in 1964 because you couldn’t pass the test (oh and also you’re a woman).

[avmlsu]

Woo hoo!!! I passed www.meyerfundforadultliteracy.com

[filosofablogger]

1916 or 2016? A Timely Reprise in 2025

This is a reprise of a post that I wrote back in 2016 about how voting rights are being chipped away, slowly but surely.  That was nine years ago.  Today, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case, Louisiana v Callais, that is likely to further decimate voting rights and hasten the return to the era of Jim Crow … or worse.  So, I thought it prudent to review some of the history of voting rights in…

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[lettucedloophole]

so much more needs to be taught about the history of racism. it would be a good quick activity to have people Understand the severity of jim crow to just have students do this in school. bc this is fucking crazy 😭 i just know the authors of these tests are boiling in hell rn

[ir-tg-curvy-mature-feetworship]

What Stephen Miller and Project 2025 would like to drag us back to:

OPEN CULTURE:

Take The Near Impossible Literacy Test Louisiana Used to Suppress the Black Vote (1964)

Take The Near Impossible Literacy Test Louisiana Used to Suppress the Black Vote (1964)

In William Faulkner’s 1938 novel The Unvanquished, the implacable Colonel Sartoris takes drastic action to stop the election of a black Repu

I'D LIKE TO SEE A LOT A MAGATARDS (INCLUDING TRUMP HIMSELF) TAKE THIS TEST!