An old story I found about the literacy test and their fairness given to blacks:

Alabama, 1930s. A retired doctor from the North returns to his old hometown after many years. He walks into the local county courthouse and asks if black people can register to vote. He's told yes, they can. But they must first pass a literacy test. He says no problem. They produce a Chinese newspaper, hand it to the doctor, and say, "Can you read this?" He looks at it for a moment and responds "I sure can. It says there aren't going to be any black folks voting in this county."