Educational Qualification Argued

White political leaders target the black community with educational requirement to vote.

Educational Qualification Argued
The Petersburg, Va., Index Appeal says admirable things sometimes, and seems to be actuated by principles of right, equity and justice. In its issue of the 27th ult., it says:
“The Baltimore Sun of last Tuesday printed a lengthy article, sent from the city on the subject of ballot reform in Virginia, in which it is assumed that the proposed constitutional convention in this state will consider the feasibility of an educational test for voting as a means of ballot reform in Virginia and for the preservation of certain sections of the state from Negro domination. The “Sun” editorially approves the suggestion as possibly the last thing that could be done under the circumstances.
Just why so radical and sweeping a measure of the political disqualification should be enacted at this time is not clear to the understanding of persons who consider such matters from other viewpoints than that of party expediency. The application of such a test a quarter a century ago or more, when the Negro was first admitted to citizenship, would have been proper enough but the average Negro is not now what he was twenty-five years ago. It is not true that he is steeped in barbarism and ignorance, but, on the contrary, he has made wonderful progress in learning and in accumulation of wealth, and if the democratic party were wise enough to give him the proper encouragement, he would speedily solve the so-called Negro problem by dividing his vote between the two parties of the country.”
The above is unquestionably true and so is what follows. Here it is:
“Unfortunately the democratic party to an overflowing extent in the south, is a ring-governed party, and the very life of the ring depends on keeping the Negro in opposition and then howling about safety of our civilization.”
Thank God! There is at least one white citizen in the South who votes the Democratic ticket and see this. And again:
“Negro domination at the ballot box does not mean the elevation to power of illiterate men, for in the nature of things, it is one of the inevitable conditions that the office-holder must be able to read and write. In days of carpet-bagism, when the Negro had absolute control at the ballot-box, white men were put in all places of honor, emolument and responsibility, and our civilization perished not. The same was true under the Mahone regime.
The above has been our contention right along. He speaks truly when he says:
“But the condition operates not only against the negro, but also against the unlettered white man who has never felt the degrading influences of slavery, and who never had the advantage of free schools in the days of his youth and poverty. There are thousands of such men in this state – upright men, good citizens, and many of them considerable taxpayers. These men may be required to take up arms, and to fight and die in defense of the government. They are also assessed and taxed for the support of the government. Is there no reciprocal obligation on the part of the government further than to govern these men and to tax them? Is it right that they should fight in defense of the government, be taxed in support of the government, and yet have no voice in the control of that government?”
The questions propounded are to the point and admit of no evasion. But how well this editor returns to the charge:
“The correspondent of the “Sun” says that this argument sounds demagogic. If this is demagogic then Mr. Jefferson and all of his compeers who signed the declaration of independence and who aided in the establishment of this great republic, were demagogues. That great chart of liberty- the declaration of independence- which forms the cornerstone of this government of ours, lays it down as a cardinal principle that governments of desire, their powers from the [illegible]. The imputation of demagogism cannot stand in the light of such high precedents as these, and the attempt to deny suffrage to men, who have not forfeited that right by crime, merely because they have not such a smattering of learning as will enable them to read and write after a fashion, is nothing less than usurpation and exercise of arbitrary power. The right of the governed to a voice in the government, through the ballot-box is an inherent right acquired [illegible].”
Was there ever anything more grandly put? Could language be handled more readily to maintain a position than this? He argues his case from a truly American standpoint, discards the subterfuges of language and refuses to dodge the issue behind a flow of rhetoric. How well he places the capstone upon his argument may ne seen when he says:
“Revolutions do not go backward and the time has long since passed for the enactment of educational tests for voting in Virginia. A far more important need is the passage of a law that will secure honest voting, or rather an honest count of the vote in this state. That is the kind of ballot reform we want in Virginia.”
So may it be. When the thousands of Virginians rise up, and speak out in defense of right with the same facility as has done this distinguished Virginian, a new star will have arisen in the commonwealth, and emblazoned above it in letter of magnificent splendor will be the one word, - Prosperity.


The Petersburg, Va., Index-Appeal under date of Dec. 29th says:
Among the educated colored men of the north T. T. Fortune, the editor of the New York Age, holds high rank. In the Age of the 27th inst., in commenting upon lynch-law in Texas, Fortune writes:
"There are plenty of tough white men and tough black men in Texas. It is a toss as to which are the tougher, and the conditions would be vastly better if the toughs of both sorts were fewer; but there are more decent, self-respecting and self-reliant men of both races in Texas than there are toughs. Are we to spend all our time and attention and sympathy on the toughs and leave the honest people unmentioned? My head and my heart are not built that way; they are very evenly balanced forces, and enable me to denounce wrong wherever I find it and to commend right wherever I find it, as light is given me to see. "
There are "tough" men of both race in every state in the union, and there will be doubtless as long as the world lasts. But the "tough" element among the Southern whites has never dominated the majority of the whites, but on the contrary has been kept under subjection. That this is true can be proven by the personnel of the Southern representation in congress and by the character of the men who administer the affairs of the several State governments.
Our fair-minded contemporary makes a statement and submits proof in support of the same.
Let us see. Because the personnel of the Southern representation in congress is satisfactory is no evidence that the tough element at home is not in the majority. It is but a practical demonstration of the so oft expressed opinion that intelligence will rule, ard will exercise its power even though it be in the minority, so far as numbers are concerned. When this intelligence is backed by money its rule is doubly certain and reasonably permanent.
When a community or section condones crime to the extent of making no sincere effort to mete punishment, it becomes responsible for the crime itself and is “share-holder” in the atrocity.
Some communities are more liberal than others. It is the business element, the wealthy, the capitalist, who see the suppression of crime the increase of their possessions, and in the multiplication of it the withering of their brightest prospects, and the diminution of their incomes. A minority of intelligence can and does control a majority of ignorance,- by fair means if it can; by deceptive means if it must. The Index Appeal says:
There are also “tough” negroes, but they do not count for much except in the way of crime, and the great body of the race is quiet, peaceable, well content to work for its daily bread; and it is moreover, a most important, in fact it might be said indispensable quantity in Southern agricultural development.
Well, said, sir. No one condemns the tough element of our population more than we. It does the race incalculable harm and should and must be sent to the rear.
We will be forward in working reform and meteing punishment, and are willing to meet half-way liberal-minded white citizens who have set themselves to the performance of a similar task on their side of the line. But the Index-Appeal does not do us full justice when it says:
Fortune doubtless is familiar with the tax statistics of the south, and probably he knows that in Virginia the whites pay more than 95 per cent. Of the whole amount collected for the support of the state government. The exact figures under the assessment of 1891, were as follows: whites, $2,836,620; negroes $103,565. The amount expended by the state for educational purposes is $997,929. Appropriated in the ratio of school attendance, the white free schools get $586,564; the negro free schools, 309,364- or three times the amount of taxes paid by the negro. When to this sum is added the amounts paid on account of the negroes for criminal expenses, normal schools and asylums, the whole foots up to $608,383- or six times the sum paid in by the blacks for the support of the government.
The above is dangerous ground. Inasmuch as the constitution and laws of this country are designed to discountenance class legislation or divisions upon a basis of possessions it is entirely of question [illegible].
To insist upon this point, is to advocate the abolition of the public school system. Why should a man [illegible].
Here comes a delicate question and the argument which you used in advocacy of the rights of the illiterate comes into play. In case of war, sir, these same negroes and poor white men are liable to and will be called upon to assist in repelling a foreign invader and protecting the property of the man who is alleged to be education his children.
It is a well-known axiom among labor leaders that as labor is the creator of all wealth, then all wealth belongs to labor. This is a fundamental principal, sir, of socialism, but from a stand point of ethics, it is no less true. It is hardly necessary for us to state that the Negro constitutes the labor of the south. The inference is apparent. For 250 years this has been true in the Southland. It should not be at all astounding, sir, that we charge that the prosperity which the south enjoys is based upon our unrequited toil and that one hundred years of free education and an exemption from taxation besides will hardly foot the bill. But why discuss this point? The land upon which we live is stolen ground. The fields which we cultivate belong to another. The air we breath was given by the Creator free of charge, and the sun which gives life to our being and to the vegetation upon which we feed and animals which do our bidding comes from Him.
Those who acknowledge allegiance to Him and those who do not, those who pay taxes and those who do not are the recipients of these favors. If these blessings come to us from an unseen hand, why should we deny to our brother a full enjoyment of them or be any less beneficent than the Father who watches over us all. And right here comes the doctrine of the fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” is a golden rule and to deny to us education or a full enjoyment of its facilities would be a violation of this divine injunction.
The brother-in-black demands and insists upon the same treatment accorded any other citizen of a similar condition and laboring under the same retarding influences. Discard the color qualification, which we cannot help, and we will stand shoulder to should to the white man of similar opportunities and equal possessions. Lynch-law must go!

“Educational Qualification Argued,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 12, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/78.