Illiteracy Among African Americans Essay

Walking into a class room full of seniors, one might not suspect that some of the students can not read above a third grade reading level (Mcmaster). In fact one million teenagers from the ages of 12 and 17 do not have the reading ability of a third grader. Literacy among American people is important because it affects our economy greatly. Not only that but it also affects the lives of the American population. Illiteracy is a large problem within the United States that can be reasonably solved using different tactics.

Throughout history, African American weren’t considered the smartest race on earth. With slavery and being for bided to ever touch or learn to read a book, African American became the race that envy having an education. Education became a prime factor in the African American culture. Having an education to an African is having the one-way ticket out of the terrible streets. They believe that if they don’t know nothing they won’t get nothing. In other word, if they aren’t educated their life would remain the same. Way back to slavery, African American would be beaten if they were to open a book and dare to read it instead of cleaning it.

The word literacy is defined as a person’s ability to read and write in a sentence. According to the article “Adolescent Literacy”, the literacy problem is getting serious in America because the students feel frustrated and discouraged to read and write when they are in school. Students without a diploma, they will face problems in getting a limited job or promotion to a higher level. The authors, Jimmy Santiago Baca and Malcolm X were having an illiteracy problem when they were in prison. Jimmy Santiago Baca is born in New Mexico and grow up without a proper family. Baca was caught and sentenced to prison for dealing with drugs when he was in his early twenties. He also gave free readings and speeches about his experiences within the country.

Since the past, black people had been oppressed and excluded from a formal education, leading them to find ways to educate themselves. While they open their minds to new worlds and perspectives, they encounter themselves with a disastrous world that discriminates them and unjustly takes their rights away from them. In these essays, “Learning How to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, both authors tell their stories about how they found their way into the world of literacy even though they were banned to do it. Because they left ignorance back, they realize all the injustices that surround them. In my opinion, literacy is one of the most important tool humans possess to be aware of the issues of the world. Knowing about world problems makes people able to decide how to act towards situations and helps avoid being led by people that the only thing they want from others is power.

About 20 percent of elementary students nationwide have significant problems learning to read. At least 20 percent of elementary students do not read fluently enough to enjoy or engage in independent reading. The rate of reading failure for AfricanAmerican, Hispanic, limited-English speakers and poor children ranges from 60 percent to 70 percent. One-third of poor readers nationwide are from college-educated families. Twenty-five percent of adults in this country lack the basic literacy skills required in a typical job.

Imagine not being able to read this essay. Many Americans do not posses the ability to do what you just did. In Jonathan Kozol’s essay titled, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” he exposes the complications of being illiterate as well as how it affects a person on a social, personal, and financial level. He brings to light the troubles illiterates go through right from the beginning, and takes repeated stabs at the way they function, and how it brings extreme troubles. Kozol effectively educates and exploits the overlooked troubles of being illiterate, by providing examples of their embarrassment, using repetition emphasizing on their limitations, and making assertions to explain how they survive.

According to the author, education was not bestowed upon African-American by enlightened citizens. Literacy is viewed as a valuable commodity that African-Americans have had limited opportunities to acquire. And for them becoming literate is perceived as continuous struggle. So Literacy serves emancipatory function when appropriate to reconstruct a society, so it limits access to those who are not literate to participate in all cultural institutions. According to Harris, European American do not fully support the education of African-American and would prefer not to fund it at the levels comparable to funding for their children and would prefer curricula that do not enable African –American to compete with their children for access to high education and possibly opportunities .

Reading is a fundamental part of the human learning experience; everyone should learn how to read. Being able to read and having the access to read was not always at certain groups of people disposal. During slavery in america , African American were forbidden to read and learn other than the required knowledge to perform their duties. The segregation time period in America also limited African American access to Frederick Douglass’ “Learning to Read” and Richard Wright’s The Library Card” are good examples of the limitation and challenges minorities had faced when trying to read. These readings shine light on how minorities groups were at a disadvantage versus the inferior race group. Both authors share the a common factor of being African

When analyzing the reading scores within the state of Kansas I found that overall the students are passing with at least 85% of the students tested are at or above the standards. It seems Kansas is not meeting its levels within its racial divides though. Almost 16% of African-American students are not meeting any standards in the reading level but only 3.3% of Kansas white students are failing. These statistics do not completely match up with the economically disadvantage students, over.5% of these students are at least meeting the basic requirements asked of them in the 2009 AYP. Students with disabilities who are given the same tests as all students are also falling below our line of standards.

Recognizing that illiteracy/low literacy is a family issue, our Adult & Family Literacy Program also offers reading enrichment to children who are struggling with reading in the 2nd-4th grades – the crucial time when children are transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn.

Reading is the core to functioning in today’s society. There are numerous black males that suffer from not being able to excel in reading. The improficiency of black males reading could enhance major issues in black males that are in k-12. To further my research on reading of the african male and strategies for improving literacy and reading levels, I chose three Academic articles to find reasoning. Reading is the building blocks of life and it is important that research is done to find answers to this issue.

Illiteracy can be easily defined as not having the skill or the ability to read this sentence. Every year, more children grow up without the ability to read. This results in students dropping out of high school. Literacy is vital element to education and illiteracy can greatly affect an individual. The National Assessment of Adult Literacy states that literacy is “using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential” (“Literacy Surveys”). Without the ability to read, an individual cannot achieve any of their goals or rise to meet their potential. People are looking to the government for funding to resolve the literacy issue. Government funding and the development of new programs can substantially decrease the amount of illiterate American citizens. Yet, more needs to be done to improve literacy rates across the country.

In today’s world, there are a numerous amount of issues that plague our society. Ones that range from obesity to economic issues. A certain problem that is highly talked about, but left in the dark is the problem of illiteracy. Illiteracy is the lack of the ability to comprehend or make sense of knowledge. A deeper look into America’s adult illiteracy problem reveals what we need to change, how we should change these problems and how we can get ahead of this competitive world race for education.

As a part of the special American dream of “equal opportunity,” education plays a significant role in seeking to close the gaps in local communities between people in different socioeconomic circumstances. America has shown to be one of the top countries in the world but is undermined by the decline of literacy among citizens. According to a 2016 recent study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, 32 million of American adults are illiterate, 21 percent read below a 5th grade level, and 19 percent of high school graduates are functionally illiterate. Functional illiteracy is the inability to manage daily living and tasks that requires reading skills beyond the basic level. A person who is functionally illiterate will affect their life and provide them with less career opportunities. As a result, illiteracy affects the larger population as a whole. It correlates with underemployment, poverty, crime, and substandard health and nutrition.

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” If one accepts the quote by John Dewey to be true, then depriving someone of their education is depriving them of their life. Throughout the centuries, human beings have sought educational freedom. The United States of America has become a symbol for all who seek life, or education rather. Millions of people come to the United States, from less privileged countries, each year in hopes for a better education that is coupled with a better life. Today, unfortunately, the U.S has lost its edge in the educational department. Many studies today show this failure, “the U.S. is the clear leader in total annual spending, but ranks 9th in Science performance and 10th in Math” (Staff). Furthermore, it seems that the U.S can’t even educate its own minority groups, which mainly includes African Americans. The educational gap in the U.S is of great concern, “the percentage of Blacks age 25 and older with a high school diploma or more was 72 percent in the 2000 census, compared to 85.5 percent for Whites” (“Blacks: Education Issues"). Two major issues that are keeping African Americans from success are Special Education Programs and teacher tenures, these systems need to be replaced for African Americans to get a better education.