24 September 2013

See if you could pass this "literacy" test


In the 1960s literacy tests were used in some states in the United States to suppress voting.  The Civil Rights Movement Veterans website has collected a number of these.
In addition to completing the application and swearing the oaths, you had to pass the actual "Literacy Test" itself. Because the Freedom Movement was running "Citizenship Schools" to help people learn how to fill out the forms and pass the test, Alabama changed the test 4 times in less than two years (1964-1965). At the time of the Selma Voting Rights campaign there were actually 100 different tests in use across the state...

Most of the tests collected here are a battery of trivia questions related to civic procedure and citizenship. (Two from the Alabama test: “Name the attorney general of the United States” and “Can you be imprisoned, under Alabama law, for a debt?”).

But this Louisiana “literacy” test, singular among its fellows, has nothing to do with citizenship. Designed to put the applicant through mental contortions, the test's questions are often confusingly worded. If some of them seem unanswerable, that effect was intentional. The (white) registrar would be the ultimate judge of whether an answer was correct.

Try this one: “Write every other word in this first line and print every third word in same line (original type smaller and first line ended at comma) but capitalize the fifth word that you write.” 
Done with page one (above)?  Here are pages 2 and 3:

  

Oh, BTW...
The test was to be taken in 10 minutes flat, and a single wrong answer meant a failing grade.
Did you fail?  You can't vote.

Via Slate and BoingBoing.

21 comments:

  1. Is it as I understand: if you have a certificate proving you made through 5th grade, you don't need to get through a test like that?

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    1. Even if the questions that have a dubious answer are substituted, I don't believe many 6th graders would pass. I wonder if anybody made the experience of applying this test to PhDs or MENSA members to see how many of them could finish it in 10 minutes.

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  2. I think a test like that would push me a long way towards becoming a terrorist. What a crock!

    "The Civil War had nothing to do with slavery."

    So if slavery had never existed, the Civil War would have happened anyway, right?

    Crock. With oak leaf cluster.

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    1. What a strawman.

      The civil war happened mostly for economic reasons, economic reality was shaped strongly by slavery. But the civil war was not "about slavery" as such, that was just a nice spin. "Die to free slaves" sounded a lot better than "die to strengthen our industry leaders' position on the continent".

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  3. Not to be contrary but anyone that can read should have no problem passing that test.

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    1. Really? Try question 29 and see how many ways you can interpret _that_.

      Also, the questions are wrong beginning with question 1. "Lines" are one-dimensional and you can't "draw a line around ..." unless you're in a non-Euclidean space.

      That questions can reasonably be interpreted in multiple ways allows the examiner to fail whoever he or she wants.

      Lurker111

      Delete
    2. Not to mention that #30 isn't even a complete sentence and I have no idea what is wanted.

      So :P
      And double :P

      Lurker111

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    3. And #21: "Print the word vote upside down, but in the correct order."

      Does this mean, turn the paper upside down and write

      vote

      or does it mean turn the paper upside down and write

      etov

      which, when the paper is righted again, would have the letters for "vote" in the "correct order"?

      The examiner might even have two different answer keys handy, always choosing the one that would let him or her disqualify the applicant.

      Lurker111

      P.S.: Sorry for the multiple posts, but this has really gotten me riled.

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  4. I think the time limit would be the killer. I'm sure I could answer all the questions correctly but some of them have to be read very carefully before making an answer. In a pressure situation, like trying to prove you're eligible to vote, many people would fail.

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    1. Really?? Then please answer this one: "Divide a vertical line in two equal parts by bisecting it with a curved horizontal line that is only straight at its spot bisection of the vertical" How is a curved line straight? Either it's curved or it's straight. And how is a curved line horizontal? Do tell!

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    2. Uh, NO. They're intentionally worded to have ambiguous answers. As you can well see.

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  5. capewood, I think you are assuming there is a single 'right' answer to some of these questions. As others have pointed out, many of the questions are vague (and don't always use good grammar even!) and thus could be considered "wrong" no matter what you do, if the examiner was so inclined.

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  6. ..on the other hand, maybe these questions could be used for the "prove you are not a bot" captcha questions on blogs :P

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  7. "Not to be contrary but anyone that can read should have no problem passing that test."

    Draw three circles, one inside the other.

    Go.

    (And it should be 'anyone WHO'.)

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  8. "Oh sorry you circled this word, we wanted ya'll to draw a line around the word"
    10 minutes for all three sheets, not going to happen with foreknowledge of the questions and "grading" gimmicks.

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  9. I just did the test in, ah, about 3 minutes.

    However, there are some questions which you cannot be sure of answering correctly.

    For example: "Write right from the left to the right as you see it spelled here."

    Is the answer: -right-

    or is it: -right from the left to the right-

    or is it: -right from the left to the right as you see it spelled here-

    Since they have not properly punctuated the sentence, any of those three could be correct.

    And as someone already point out, it's impossible to answer number 30.

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    1. So... you DIDN'T do the test in 3 minutes. Or at all. Since it's impossible to answer number 30, as you admit.

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  10. Well, personally, I would be in favor or implementing this test across the board (no get out of jail free cards for you 5th grade graduates). There would be fewer Republicans in Congress.

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