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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Politics - 22. Political Practices Today - 2. Southern Techniques for Disfranchising the Negroes
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482 An American Dilemma
have it for the express purpose of restricting the vote.* They have different
kinds of poll taxes, but in general the requirement is the voluntary pay-
ment of a small sum (one to three dollars) before registration for voting
is permitted; it is thus not actually a .^^tax” in the strict meaning of the
term but a ^Tee” or ^^ues” paid for voting.^®
In many states the poll tax is cumulative, and the payment of more than
one year’s poll tax is required for the right to vote (in some states back to
the time the individual became 21 years of age). Again it may be noted
that the states of the Deep South are more restrictive than the states of
the Upper South or the Border states.^^ North Carolina, Louisiana and
Florida have repealed their poll tax requirements. The latter two states
form the only exception to the rule that the more ^^Southern” the state,
the more restrictive its poll tax requirement. While the poll tax is low,
except where and when it is applied cumulatively, it means quite a bit to
those Negroes and whites who work for a dollar or two a day. It means
more for Negroes because they are poorer. But its greatest restrictiveness
against Negroes probably results from discrimination in its application:
election officials practically always demand to see the poll tax receipts of
Negroes and seldom those of whites. Too, it Is common in many areas for
politicians to pay the poll tax of whites in return for an understanding that
those receiving the benefit will vote in accordance with the wishes of the
benefactor. But in only a handful of Southern cities is the Negro vote so
bought.^®
Because the poll tax operates to disfranchise the poorer whites as well
as Negroes and to bolster political machines, there is a growing movement
in the South to abolish it.^® Some liberals even claim that the primary
purpose of the tax was to disfranchise poor whites, since Negroes can be
kept from the polls in so many other ways. The case of Louisiana is pointed
out: the poll tax was repealed there in 1934, and still only some 2,000
Negroes registered in 1936.^’^ The chief popular argument for the poll tax
is still, however, that it keeps Negroes from the polls. This argument is
buttressed by the case of Miami, where Negroes went to the polls in large
numbers in 1939 following the repeal of the poll tax In 1937. Some pro-
ponents of the poll tax admit that one of Its aims Is to disfranchise poor
whites, but this—^they hold—^keeps the primary ^‘manageable” so that the
Democratic party docs not split and thus open the way for Negroes to vote
and get the balance of power.** This last argument points to a perhaps
* While this book is in press, Tennessee has aboh’shed its poll tax. There are now only 7
states with the poll tax.
**
There have been a few arguments for the poll tax which have no special reference to
Negroes. Some of the aristocratic proponents of the tax frankly believe that only those who
pay taxes should have the vote. It was also argued that the poll tax is a source of revenue,
but it is usually realized that the income from this tax is very small, and that it is not
necessary to prohibit voting in order to collect taxes.
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