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Thursday’s piece in Inside Higher Ed proposing a basic civics test for people who want to hold public office brought home to me, once again, the importance of studying history.
There is a long and ugly history of “literacy tests” as forms of disenfranchisement, or what we now call voter suppression. Literacy tests were used specifically against Black people. And the tests were crafted in such ways that even very educated people couldn’t pass them. They weren’t supposed to be passed.
I understand the impulse to throw up one’s hands in despair when, say, a sitting U.S. senator inadvertently demonstrates ignorance of the three branches of government. And as a card-carrying political scientist, I’m all for rules that create jobs for people who teach Intro to American Government.
(In college, I briefly dated a professional clarinetist. She told me that her favorite composers were Wagner and Mahler. When I made a face and muttered something about bombast, she laughed and said that it wasn’t about the music. Wagner and Mahler require huge orchestras, which means plenty of jobs for professional clarinetists.)
But this is not the way.
The cure for ignorant politicians is supposed to be elections. To the extent that elections are tainted by voter suppression, that’s where the issue is. Address that. Otherwise, the folks who get to write the test will be the ones who benefit from the current system; the incentives for bad behavior are too strong.
No, thanks. History’s lessons are clear on this one.
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I was annoyed to learn that Amherst College announced it will end legacy admissions.
I was annoyed because it beat Williams to the punch. As a Williams grad, this is not OK.
Williams, step up. Hereditary aristocracy is just embarrassing at this point.
Meanwhile, community colleges have never given legacy students preference. We welcome everyone. It seems worth a mention.
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The Boy came home to visit last weekend. It felt good seeing those size-15 sneakers in the front foyer again.
The previous weekend he did babysitting duty, watching his cousins in Virginia while their parents -- my brother and his wife -- had a getaway.
His report: “[The cousins] are great and I love them, but it was really tiring.”
Sounds about right.
