In this installment for the Black History Month Ex Libris Juris series, we will focus on the elimination of white primaries in Texas. Surprisingly, the end of this practice has a historical connection to Houston.
After Reconstruction, Texas and most southern states created laws to bar Black Americans from voting. Some methods included implementing a poll tax, literacy test, or holding a white primary. While a poll tax or literacy test was standard practice throughout the south, it did not omit Blacks entirely from voting. Additionally, poor White Americans were also affected by these state and local laws.
Holding a white primary at least ensured White Americans the opportunity to decide their party’s political nominee. Based on their party membership, some Black Americans could not determine their party’s nominee for a period of Texas political history.
As the Texas legislature aimed to regulate primary elections, a series of lawsuits, including those discussed below, emerged from Black Americans stating that this 1923 law, Senate Bill No. 44, Qualifications for Voters in Democratic Primaries, violated their rights. The law declared “that in no event shall a negro participate in a Democratic primary in the State of Texas.”
The first case involving White Primaries in Texas, Nixon v. Herndon, ruled that this state regulation was unconstitutional. However, the ruling only discussed state law and left the decisions for membership requirements up to the private nominating party.
Several cases involving white primaries in Texas were brought to the courts after Nixon v. Herndon, ultimately finding its end in Smith v. Allwright. In Harris County, Lonnie E Smith, a black dentist, was denied a ballot based on his party membership. With Thurgood Marshall's assistance, Mr. Smith asked the Supreme Court to reverse a previous ruling that stated the doings of private nominating organizations could not violate constitutional rights. In a landmark decision, the Court held that voters could not be denied based on their party affiliation.
For more information, please see:
Brooke A. Lewis, Farmer Willie Melton took on Fort Bend’s whites-only primary system — and changed county politics forever, Hous. Chron., February 12, 2021, https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Farmer-Willie-Melton-took-on-Fort-Bend-s-15946611.php
Battleground State: Texas and the Fight to Dismantle All-White Primaries, Legal Defense Fund, https://tminstituteldf.org/battleground-state-texas-and-the-fight-to-dismantle-all-white-primaries/ (last visited Feb. 21, 2023).
Sanford N. Greenberg, White Primary, Handbook of Texas Online, September 29th, 2020, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/white-primary