TexasCHLforum.com

This is something the textbook writers don't want you to know about, but during reconstruction and onward, there was a fear among whites that if armed, the former slaves would take up arms and get even. The fear was justified. Who had power and who did not have power. The concept morphed out into property rights, voter rights, and assured a racially divided nation for the next century. We still see some of these symbols today. Here in Texas you have a voter registration card. Today it serves little purpose but prior to 1965 it represented a receipt for the poll tax paid, and that tax was only paid if you 'qualified' as a voter.