What legislation did Hoke Smith push that affected African Americans negatively?

Hoke Smith was a key proponent of the Grandfather Clause Amendment, legislation that had a significant detrimental impact on African American voters in the South. The Grandfather Clause was designed to exempt individuals from literacy tests and poll taxes if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote before Reconstruction. This effectively disenfranchised many African Americans as their ancestors were enslaved and could not vote, while many white citizens were able to bypass these voting restrictions based on their grandfather's past voting rights.

This legislation played a crucial role in the Jim Crow era, as it reinforced systemic racism and kept African Americans from participating in the democratic process. Understanding the implications of the Grandfather Clause is vital in the context of U.S. history as it exemplifies the lengths to which public officials went to maintain racial segregation and discrimination in voting practices. Other options, such as the Smith-Lever Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, were focused on establishing agricultural education, protecting civil rights, and ensuring voting rights, respectively, which contrasts with the restrictive nature of the Grandfather Clause.