Freedom Summer, 1964

1. Why was the number of black voters in Mississippi so low?

• Black people were beaten and intimidated to stop them voting and segregation meant that many black people were poorly educated so found it impossible to pass the literacy tests which allowed them to vote.
• There were too many parties that black people wanted to vote for; they found it so difficult to decide which one to vote for that many decided it would be easier not to vote at all.
• Black people were arrested if seen at polling stations trying to vote.
• Propaganda discouraged black people from wanting to vote or feeling safe about voting.