Elisabeth Hasselbeck is proud of her knowledge of basic American history, but the hypocritical Fox News host forgets how voting tests were used to disenfranchise Blacks.
“Fox & Friends” co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck this morning advocated for the idea that all Americans of voting age should have to pass a “citizenship test” before being eligible to vote. The 37-year old told her guests that she believes voting is “more meaningful” when people are able to answer questions like who wrote the Declaration of Independence or how many seats there are in the House of Representatives.
Hasselbeck has railed against the federal government’s standardized testing that is currently being implemented, known as Common Core. That program, actually a bipartisan governors initiative the federal government embraced, mandates that, for example every fourth grader should know the same basic facts before moving on to fifth grade. Republicans have called it “tyranny.”
But if “standardized” tests for voting sound familiar, they should. Hasselbeck’s knowledge of American history apparently doesn’t reach as far as segregation. From the 1880’s to 1965, many Southern states invoked unconstitutional “literacy tests” designed to disenfranchise Black voters.
And while a strong understanding of American history may be important, it does not necessarily make anyone a better voter.
Watch:
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UPDATE: Salon is calling Hasselbeck’s citizenship test a “disturbing anti-voting scheme.”
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Hat tip and video: David Edwards at The Raw Story