Question

Which of the following statements about post WWI immigration policy is best described by this political cartoon?

Answer 1

Answer:

Nativist anti-immigrant legislation was similar to Jim Crow laws targetting non-white populations.

Explanation:

The cartoon in the picture is a very witty take on Nativist anti-immigrant laws that were enacted in the United States after WWI.

The reason is that it compares one of its measures: literacy tests, with Jim Crow laws, which also included literacy tests for people in order to be able to vote, a measure that targeted black people and poor white people, who at the time had very low literacy levels. This policy was designed to effectively keep black and poor white people from voting, a phenomenon that is known as disenfranchisement.

Literacy tests for immigrants had a similar effect, since many of U.S. potential immigrants at the time came from non-english speaking countries like Italy, Poland or China, and this literacy tests were obviously made in English.