Vivek Ramaswamy Wants to Bring Back Jim Crow Tests for Voting—Just for Young People

Vivek Ramaswamy seems to loathe young people. This is especially odd as at 38, he is by far the youngest candidate in the GOP presidential primary field. His hatred was evident during the debate when he repeated his bizarre and highly unconstitutional proposal that people between the ages of 18 to 24 must pass a civics test before they can vote. That is, unless they have a military or first responder background, which in and of itself doesn’t make sense. But I will leave it to someone else to debate that specific point.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard this was that the GOP’s cult leader Trump for sure wouldn’t pass a civics test. This is one of the most willfully ignorant political figures in history. He clearly doesn’t understand or care about the Constitution because he thinks voting can be discarded and votes can just be found. He pushed the Muslim ban, which goes against the Constitution. I mean, there’s so much!  But Trump is old so I guess it doesn’t matter. Which makes me ask: Why does only a young voting bloc have to prove that they know civics?

This is such an odd position for a politically young person like Ramaswamy. Politicians usually seek out young voters as they have such potential to sway elections and have been a critical demographic in the recent past. But Vivek doesn’t seem to care. Weird political strategies aside, we know his idol Trump probably wouldn’t pass a civics test. But what about himself?

Ramaswamy made a crazy statement during the debate about American history. He stated, “The U.S. Constitution, it is the strongest guarantor of freedom in human history. That is what won us the American Revolution.” Um … this is unequivocally false. The Constitution was written after the Revolutionary War was already won. So maybe he should go back and learn more about the civics he seems to think is so important. 

Views like this have a more sinister history. When Black Americans were granted Constitutional freedom from slavery, whites continued finding ways to disenfranchise them. One of these ways was through literacy tests. These tests were disproportionately administered just to Black people. Take a look at some test questions from the 1960s. The vileness of the Republican party isn’t even as hidden as it once was. These candidates are putting their awfulness right out in front of us to see.

(featured image: Scott Olson/Getty Images)