Page:Race distinctions in American Law (IA racedistinctions00stepiala).pdf/329

 a republican form of government, although he has neither education nor property. In Mississippi, one who cannot read may register if he can understand and reasonably interpret the Constitution when read to him. A distinction must be made between these two "Understanding Clauses." In Georgia the requirement is the understanding of the duties of citizens of a republican form of government; in Mississippi it is understanding the State Constitution when read. In three other States—Alabama, South Carolina, and Virginia—the "Understanding Clause" of the Mississippi type is part of the "Grandfather" section, and became inoperative with the "Grandfather Clauses." The Georgia provision which allows one to register, regardless of education or property, if he is of good moral character has a prototype in the Constitutions of Connecticut which requires all electors to be of good moral character, and the Constitution of Vermont which requires the electors to be of quiet and peaceable behavior.

It cannot be doubted that the permanent "Understanding Clauses" of Mississippi and Georgia lend themselves to race discrimination. The Constitution of Mississippi provides that the applicant for registration must be able either to read or understand and reasonably interpret the Constitution. The registrar who so desires may easily disqualify members of one race by asking them to explain more difficult passages of the Constitution or by requiring of them a more scholarly interpretation of such passages than he demands of members of the other race whom he desires to have qualify as electors. In Georgia the registrar who passes upon an applicant's understanding of the duties and obligations of citizens under