NutWrench:1. Draw a line around the number or letter of this sentence.

I assume this one is supposed to make you run out the clock, while you scratch your head, saying WTF.

Obviously, you're not from Louisiana. Neither am I, but I worked in Baton Rouge for a time.This question makes perfect sense; it just needs to be translated. Google doesn't have a Bayou to English translator yet, but that shouldn't stop you. Stuff 8-10 marbles in your mouth, and then read the sentence aloud. "wawawineawouhahumbaoweddauhisentens."As anyone who's ever spent time in Baton Rouge can tell you, that means, "circle the number 1 that's next to this sentence.

31. Draw a line under Principal Caught sayof school that has stoped Standandizedtest.32. Circle the word before successful Hispanic kids Is He lying or not.33. Draw a square, then write whether ACLU says yes, Star-Telegram Looking for chads -OR- "hello, I am kids not responsible and wait for again".

1) draw a line around, but do not close, either the word number or the word letter

1. Draw a line around the number or letter of this sentence.

You Failed. You were supposed to circle the number 1.

FAILBOAT.jpg to you

if you were black, you would not have voted, and now, after your response, i'm a little bit sympathetic to the idea....

Did you miss the part where I explained to you that many of the questions on the test are purposefully ambiguous?

Are you really so thick that you can't see that the answer I provided is satisfactory given a perfectly legitimate alternative interpretation of the question? (The point was to show you that there can be more than one correct answer as the questions are ambiguous!)

To your answer specifically, I can think of a couple ways to dispute it. If you were black, and I didn't want you to vote I could object that the line you drew was not closed as the questions asks for a line around, not part-way around. I could also object to circling either the word "number" or "letter" as the question asks you to circle the number or letter of the question, not in the question.

The point of the test wasn't to make a test so difficult that very few black people could pass. The point was to make a test that is impossible to pass, due to the ambiguity of the questions.

12349876:patentguy: netweavr: The "single wrong answer" criteria would probably have gotten a lot of people who just brain-farted on something.

You're starting to understand. The person grading might miss an error by a white voter while making sure to find any technical error by a black voter. It's not the test, it's the grader.

It's not just that, it's who takes the test. In this situation, if you could prove you had a fifth grade education you didn't have to take it. They probably found a way to make black schools not count or something like that.

Paris1127:One way that test could be worse would be if in the last instruction said "Now that you've read through all of the questions, do not answer any of the questions on this test, fold up the paper and hand it to the official."

It never ceases to amaze me when some retard creates a multiple choice test with 5 possible answers, the 4th of which is 'none of the above' and the fifth is 'all of the above'.

BraveNewCheneyWorld:leonel: No way you can do this in 10 minutes! 24 would take me a minute alone to think up words that look the same back and forth! RACECAR would probably disqualify me since it could be interpreted as two words.

Duke_leto_Atredes:i am for testing all people before we let them vote, why oh why do we care what idiots want?

make a test (this has to be more dificult than the GED please) no pass no vote have it taken on a computer in a proctered testing center.

1) name all nine memebers of the supreme court2) the first 4 people in line of sucession to the office of president3) what does seperation of powers mean?4) why is jury duty important5) who has the power to delcare war and isssue letters of marqe6) what is the role of the federal reserve7) what is the oldest law enforcement agency in the US8) who founded the postal service

You might want to edit your post or reconsider whether you are eligible to vote.

2. Are you planning to vote for Obama because he will give you a phone?

If you answer "Yes" to either of the above you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

1. No, I voted for Obama because Romney's a damn fool.

2. I didn't need a free phone from the government because I wanted a cooler one for myself, so I bought my own.

Now, a question for you: Do you think that sucking up to your rich Republican overlords will get you a blowjob from them?

Read #1 again. If you answer "Yes" you are a racist twit who shouldn't be voting. The test is designed to eliminate single issue numbskulls who don't think past 1. Don't vote for the black guy and 2. Vote only for the guy who will give you the most stuff.

As for the blowjob, I'll take 'em where I can get 'em.

You must be the densest person alive. Do you criticize trailer dwelling white hayseeds whey they vote for Romney because "I ain't voting' for that thar nigra Hoosein!" No, because as they're on "your team" and you need them to be useful idiots for your vote count.

Besides, in 2004, blacks voted about 91% for Kerry, probably the pastiest white guy EVER to run for president. We didn't write in Jesse or Al at 91%, did we.

Lastly, they ain't giving you a BJ anytime soon. Maybe a sympathy tug at best.

lordargent:Johnson: It is quite simple: Put your pencil point down at any spot around the selected object. While applying light pressure, draw a line AROUND the object. Lift pencil.

A line is a straight one dimensional figure with no width that extends to infinity. From a geometrical standpoint, it is technically impossible.You can't draw a line around something because a line has no curvature (unless you're warping the fabric of space). // I mean, if you really want to get technical, you can't even draw a line (only the representation of one) since a line extends to infinity.// If you want to get pedantic, you can draw a line segment (which a layman will generally call a "line").

2. Are you planning to vote for Obama because he will give you a phone?

If you answer "Yes" to either of the above you shouldn't be allowed to vote.

1. No, I voted for Obama because Romney's a damn fool.

2. I didn't need a free phone from the government because I wanted a cooler one for myself, so I bought my own.

Now, a question for you: Do you think that sucking up to your rich Republican overlords will get you a blowjob from them?

Read #1 again. If you answer "Yes" you are a racist twit who shouldn't be voting. The test is designed to eliminate single issue numbskulls who don't think past 1. Don't vote for the black guy and 2. Vote only for the guy who will give you the most stuff.

semiotix:I'm a little annoyed with this particular post, history under Rebecca Onion being one of the very few things Slate has done competently lately. And, in fact, until now, it's been GREAT.

But the Slate post links to a page on the Civil Rights Movement Veteran webpage which contains this page which in turn contains two links. One, marked "circa 1964?" is the one shown in the article. Here's what it looks like:

[s18.postimg.org image 488x365]

The other link is marked "circa 1963" (note, no "?") and looks like this:

[s22.postimg.org image 386x359]

Notice how one looks like it was typed or printed in 1963, and the other looks like it came off a mid-1990s word processor?

Now, literacy tests existed. Tests about the Constitution, etc., existed. And they were used in exactly the way you'd think--there's no controversy about that whatsoever. But it's entirely possible that the thing shown in this Slate article isn't even a transcription of a real document--it smells a bit wrong, and (argument from authority alert) I'm a twentieth-century American historian. It's almost too cute, and the white registrar turning black voters away from the polls in 1964 Louisiana didn't need to be cute.

So, this is dangerous--because if this one fishy document gets debunked, all of a sudden the AM radio dial is going to light up with people talking about how blacks never had any trouble voting AT ALL, and the VRA was just those damn liberals trying to mess with honest folks' constitutional rights, etc. etc.

The one from 1963 appears to be typed on an IBM Selectric typewriter with the Italics ball.

One way that test could be worse would be if in the last instruction said "Now that you've read through all of the questions, do not answer any of the questions on this test, fold up the paper and hand it to the official."