H12

Literacy tests affected voter turnout in African Americans. States would require all citizens to take a literacy test before they could be qualified to vote. The tests were biased, so officials would purposefully fail African Americans in order to prevent them from voting. Poll taxes affected African American voter turnout as well. The states would require voters to pay a voting fee. Since most African Americans had low income jobs at that time, it was difficult for them to pay an additional fee to vote. Therefore African Americans would have low voter turnout.  

Two alternative forms of participation that helped bring about changes in civil rights policies were protests and court cases. With protests, African Americans were able to voice their opinions on policy. For example, during the Civil Rights movement, there were many sit in protests in which African Americans would peaceful sit inside white only restaurants in order to establish their view on integration. African Americans would participate in court cases to influence policy. For example, in the court case of Brown v. Board of Education, African Americans fought to overturn the “separate but equal” law, which resulted in the integration of public schools.

 

Court cases were effective in changing civil rights policy because it directly questioned the constitutionality of policies. For example, in the Brown v. Board of Education court case, the constitutionality of the “separate but equal” law was questioned, and as a result, overturned the law. Court cases essentially question what is constitutional, so African Americans were able to get fair treatment through the law.

One barrier that currently impedes minority representation would be redistricting. When redistricting occurs, minorities can be spit up into different districts, making it difficult for minorities to be voted into office. Gerrymandering is done so certain candidates will win the majority vote by splitting up the minority.