To comply with the letter of the law as stipulated in the Fifteenth Amendment, no mention of race could be made in efforts to restrict voting rights, so states introduced purportedly "neutral" poll taxes, property requirements, literacy tests, and complex written ballots.
The Fifteenth Amendment aimed to protect voting rights regardless of race, demanding that legislation should not include racial criteria. However, states employed various indirect tactics to circumvent this law. They implemented measures like poll taxes and literacy tests, claiming these regulations were race-neutral while effectively disenfranchising many voters, particularly African Americans.
This approach allowed states to maintain control over voter eligibility and suppress the rights of marginalized groups without overtly violating the constitutional mandate. Such strategies reveal how governments can manipulate laws to undermine democratic principles, highlighting the need for vigilance in protecting electoral integrity.
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!
