Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-09
Sponsors Of Virginia Voting Rules
Were Candid About Motives

I would not expect for the white
man q rigid examination"
Voice Of Protest
William Gordon Robertson Of
Craig County. Roanoke City and
County. presented the view Of the
gentle mountain folk that voting
rights should be restricted as little
as possible" There are few in
Virginia today who would dare
rise to defend Negroes as he did
when he spoke against the UNDER
standing clause:
1T does seem to me that the
very fact that we recognize that
we are the superior race ought
to make us hesitate q long time
before we decide any injustice to
the inferior race. So far as I am
concerned, throughout my life
have always felt more impelled
to be just to the man who Is
beneath me than to the man who
is my equal or my superior"
Mr.. Robertson described the
Negroes as this poor. dull. docile
race Of creatures who certainly
did not bring themselves here. We
excuse ourselves for having them
by saying somebody else brought
them to this country. Whoever
brought them, our ancestors pur-
chased them"
He said he did not believe a
single delegate at the convention
would be willing to do dirty
work" personally to keep Negroes
of the registration books, yet
they proposed the understanding
clause with the expectation that
registrars would favor the white
man.
Here is the poor, pitiful result
that we present to the world =.
The best thing we can do to get
around the Fifteenth Amendment
is to appoint men in every county
who will use favoritism towards
the white man as against the
black man."
Mr.. Robertson and his allies.
failed in their attempt to kill the
understanding clause, and it was
put into the constitution along
with the literacy or 'blank paper"
test.
In recent years, the under
standing clause has been put
to little use. And the literacy
test in many parts of the State
has been reduced to the filling
out of prepared registration forms
An expedient brought by the
increasing numbers Of new voters.
The Groy PROPOSED
Now, Senator Garland Gray of
Waverly and eight other South
side Senators propose to put new
teeth into the literacy regulation
by specifying that prospective
voters shall receive only q blank
sheet Of paper on which to write
their registration applications. An
amendment, Endorsed by Gov.
Almond, would allow registrars
to show applicants q copy of
the constitutional requirements
when they apply, but the APP
plicant could not keep the list
of requirements at hand when
writing down the necessary in
formation. II
All Senator Gray is saying pub
licly about his motives is that the
constitution should be enforced.
But the leanings of the spon-
sors and the recent announcement
Of a stepped-up voter registration
drive by the National Association
for the Advancement Of Colored
People draw a picture too obvious
to ignore.
There is, however, a possible
turn of events that even some 1902
convention delegates recognized.
r. l.. Gordon Of Louisa put his
finger on it when he asked:
wouldn't it be a very easy matter
for a smart Negro lawyer or a
smart Negro preacher-and there
are a great number of them who
are very smart-who felt a great
interest in the question of Negro
suffrage, to hold schools and go
around and train them up, and
teach them enough to go and
stand this examination. while the
illiterate and ignorant white class
would not have had this same
benefit because there would not
be the same amount Of interest
felt by the white people. =. That
Is q difficulty that suggests ITSELF"