“A poll tax would work like a charm in the counties where there is a large negro population. About all the enjoyment some negroes have in the world is voting; it is a part of their existence, and they never allow an opportunity to vote to pass. A large majority of them pay no taxes and also avoid road working. If they were compelled to exhibit their poll tax receipts before voting the probability is there would be fewer of them vote [sic]; the people generally would be better off.”
To critics who feared the poll tax’s spill-over, the Banner retorted: “In regard to the whites, the votes of those who are unwilling or unable to pay a poll tax could be dispensed with, without any serious detriment to the public good.”4
- P.36, Exodusters – Nell Irvin Painter, ISBN 0-393-00951-3
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