A group of Harvard students were recently asked to sit the notorious 1964 Louisiana Literacy Test, implemented at the time to stop black people from voting, and ALL of them failed.
In the sixties, Southern states gave the exam to any person who could not prove they had a fifth grade education. However it was disproportionately given to black would-be voters, the Slate reports. It was made deliberately confusing and nearly impossible to finish in order to disenfranchise African-Americans.
The Harvard experiment, captured on video, was to remind people about the importance of voting and the barriers which used to exist.
"Exactly 50 years ago, states in the American South issued this exact test to any voter who could not 'prove a fifth grade education'", Carl L. Miller, a resident tutor at Harvard and a fellow at the law school, said.
"Unsurprisingly, the only people who ever saw this test were blacks and, to a lesser extent, poor whites trying to vote in the South."
Below is an example of one of the tests. Candidates were required to complete the paper in 10 minutes. One wrong answer meant immediate failure.
Could you have passed it?
