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Alsadius comments on An attempt at a short no-prerequisite test for programming inclination - Less Wrong Discussion
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There was sufficient ambiguity in many of those instructions to let the pass/fail distinction come down to whatever the test's grader wanted it to be. I bet the folks grading those tests weren't too big on equal rights. At least twenty of those questions were reasonable(if we assume the need for a test of this sort in the first place), but a few were pernicious. Given that even a single wrong answer disqualified you, you don't need many evil questions to make for an evil test.
The function of such tests was to invoke the grandfather clause — anyone whose grandfather could vote was not required to pass the test; thus, native-born whites were largely exempt.
(That is the original meaning of the term "grandfather clause", by the way.)
Grandfather clauses were declared unconstitutional in 1915, so this particular test would not have a grandfather clause exemption.
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.