I submit that the dual guarantees of the 14th and 15th amendments are not qualified by expense or Inconvenience. The fact that the lack of equal educational opportunities for some citizens throws a roadblock in their way when given the chance to exercise those guarantees is one too evident to ignore. indeed. the demonstration of the absence of such opportunities led the Supreme Court to strike down literacy barriers in the Gaston County case. This legislation. by recommending a permanent ban on literacy testswhich now exist In 12 States. Including Connecticut. Delaware. and New Yorkgives Congress a unique opportunity to further the designs of those two amendments to the Constitution. As Mr. Justice Douglas pointed out in the case of Oregon against Mitchell. Congress: . . can rely on the fact that most States do not have literacy tests. that the tests have been used at times as a discriminatory weapon against some minorities. not only Negroes but Americans of Mexican ancestry. and American Indians. that radio and television have made it possible for a person to be wellinformed even though he may not be able to read and write. There are broader and much more serious implications which may result from ignoring present realities of discrimination in voting and its shortterm effects upon ethnic and language minorities for the sake of convenience. ones which go to the very essence of democratic government. Simply put. electoral democracy in this country is shrinking.
Identified stereotypes
Literacy tests have been used as a discriminatory weapon against some minorities.