Final answer:
The author posits that unequal voting laws are unjust, historically targeting and affecting black individuals and keeping them from voting, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and lack of education. Additionally, these laws create a broader societal issue by motivating white populations to remain uneducated and in poverty.
Step-by-step explanation:
The strongest reasoning the author gives to support his claim that laws that keep the poor or uneducated from voting are unjust is that such laws do not only disproportionately affect black men who are living in poverty or uneducated but also lead to wider societal consequences.
Laws that allow an ignorant and poverty-stricken white man to vote while denying a black man in the same condition that right, are not only inherently unjust but they also encourage disparity in education and promote stagnation among white populations as well.
The author suggests that the historical context of such laws, which encourage systemic inequality, must be understood and acknowledged, and argues for an equitable approach to voting rights that does not discriminate based on race or socioeconomic status.
Moreover, the historical misuse of literacy tests and poll taxes during the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise African Americans, and the subsequent long-term effects of these discriminatory practices, provide compelling historical evidence that such laws are contrary to the principle of equality.
The unfairness is highlighted by the ongoing impacts of anti-literacy laws which, though abolished, have left a lasting legacy on education and voting rights, especially for people of color.