1987 Spring
1875�1900
PAGE 3

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�White Primary� System Bars Blacks from Politics

LITTLE ROCK � The increasing use of the �white only� democratic primary election in Arkansas counties, together with the earlier poll tax and literacy laws, has nearly completed the removal of lacks from Arkansas elections. In this year 1900, all but a few counties have white primary elections, and the other measures apply statewide.

The removal of blacks from the election process, or �disfranchisement,� and the segregation of blacks from whites in public life, or �Jim Crow,� have developed slowly over the last 25 years.

Reconstruction ended in Arkansas when the Democratic Party, known as �the white man�s party,� returned to power in 1874. The same year the state adopted a new constitution. Even though blacks in Arkansas supported the Republican Party, they continued to vote, hold office and occupy seats in the legislature until 1894. White Democrats often cooperated with blacks, especially in eastern Arkansas, in an arrangement known as the �fusion principle.�

But beginning in the 1880�s this cooperation became increasingly difficult because of problems in agriculture which led to the rise of third parties. This seemed to threaten the Democrats� political control of the state. Of special concern was the Populist Party because it appealed to farmers.

The worsening farm situation early in the 1890�s caused new action by the state�s �have-nots,� both blacks and poor whites. To help their party stay in power, Democrats in Arkansas enacted various measures that excluded almost all blacks and many whites from politics. These measures brought about disfranchisement because they made it very hard for blacks and poor whites to vote or to hold office.

In 1891 Arkansas passed a new election law to stop corruption and fraud in politics. The law included a number of reforms, but it gave the Democrats control over elections. It also excluded the votes of many illiterates, both black and white. This was very important in Arkansas where more than 25 percent of the population could neither read nor write.

Also, in 1891, Arkansas passed the Separate Coach Law requiring railroads to provide separate or segregated cars for black and white passengers. This law marked the beginning of the legalized �Jim Crow� system whereby blacks and whites were segregated in most public places.

The second step toward disfranchisement in Arkansas came in 1892 with the addition of the so-called Poll Tax Amendment to the state�s Constitution. First, the amendment required each person to pay a poll tax and to prove that he had paid the tax before he was allowed to vote. In a state made up of so many poor people, especially poor blacks, the poll tax greatly reduced the number of people who could vote.

Second, the poll tax amendment laid down strict residence requirements for voting. In order to vote, a person had to live in the state for one year, in a particular county for six months, and in a certain ward or precinct for one month. These requirements made voting more difficult for sharecroppers because they moved from place to place so often. Supporters of the poll tax claimed that it would increase school funds, but it really kept poor people, back and white, from voting.

Once the Democratic Party in Arkansas had reduced the number of voters and eliminated most blacks from the polls, it started requiring the �white primary,� in which qualified voters chose candidates for office. The primary replaced the convention method of choosing party nominees for office and was first used in some Arkansas counties in the 1870�s.

The �white primary� system means that, in effect, blacks are not allowed to belong to the Democratic Party and so can not vote in the primary. Since the Republican Party has so little strength in the state, victory in the Democratic primary is the same as the election to office in Arkansas.

Blacks and some whites fought these disfranchisement measures. Blacks, in particular, vigorously protested these measures. They held mass meetings, circulated petitions, and spoke out against every attempt to limit their voting rights. But they did not succeed.

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