Illiteracy In African-America

The essay “How My Illiterate Grandmother Raised an Educated Black Man” was written by Terrell Jermaine Starr. After four years of journalism experience, Terrell is now the associate editor for an online journal called NewsOne. He has a bachelor’s degree in English and two master degrees. He says that he owes all of his success to his grandmother; without her constant encouragement, he would never have become the accomplished journalist he is today.

The reading made me think of how homesick I feel, and not having my mom in the same place as me. It makes me think of the times my mother would come into my room in the mornings to get me up for school, because of how important it is to her and my father that I get an education and make something of myself. Everyone has hopes and dreams, but not many get to follow through with them, because sometimes life just gets in the way. I feel this is why our parents or elders do what they can to help us be better people for ourselves and others, while striving to accomplish our dreams.

In the essay, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” written by Jonathan Kozol and originally published in the book, “Illiterate America”, is a bundle of examples of how people who are illiterate live every day. It showcases the hardships they go through, and how much of a problem it is. He had quotes from various interviews with people who are illiterate, and how many become distrustful of people trying to explain what the written document or form says, for they can never know if they are telling the truth. Kozol heavily uses rhetorical strategies, mostly pathos related, to showcase these struggles and make us take notice of this problem. Overall, he uses the strategies of logos, ethos, and pathos to push his point across.

Knowledge is an effective factor in which human society relies on. Throughout history, those who were knowledgeable were well-respected, honored and revered. Author Jonathan Kozol writes his essay, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society,” to project the importance of knowledge and to explain that without it, one can suffer disastrous repercussions. He highlights real-life examples of how people suffer as a result of chronic illiteracy, and his entire essay is an advocacy for knowledge and literacy. Other authors such as Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright would use their personal experiences in completely different settings to highlight the power of knowledge. Douglass, a man born into slavery, and Wright, a man living through

The article digs deeper into the problem of incarceration and the decreasing concentration in school by African American students, which has become a problem in the attainment of education in the U.S. There is a gap in the number of whites graduating at the end of schooling and the Blacks with the dropout increasing each

The literacy test was another means to disenfranchise African Americans as well as immigrants. In the 1840s the idea of literacy tests surfaced in discussions in northern states as a technique to prevent immigrants from voting. While the idea never made it past the discussion stage in the North, it reappeared in the South as another way to disenfranchise African Americans (Altman). Support for these tests became widespread in the 1870s. As late as 1959, by Lassiter v. Northhampton County Bd. of Elections, 360 U.S. 45 (1959), the Supreme Court upheld some form of the literacy test. It was not until Oregon v Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112 (1970) that the Court held Congress did have the power, via the Fifteenth Amendment, to ban literacy tests or other

In conclusion to doing great reading and learning and educating myself with the time frames and what had happened. It allowed me to see and follow through with times, yes, African Americans had suffered from being slaves to fighting for civil rights. They wanted the same life as whites a lot of high protesters and men and woman were intellectuals who held degrees but yet; they were not allowed to come out and be what their profession allowed them to be: lawyers, priest, teachers and much more they had to take a stand. Whites became in feared that blacks were allowing themselves to strive for educating and success. Negroes, as the back era had called them beat them lynched them and brutally left them to survive in the streets, is it the

When I decided to pack my things and head to the US to pursue with my studies, there was one thing I was sure of, the cost of education would be outstanding. This high cost of education is one of the main causes of the growing percentage of illiterates in the USA. According to Chris Hedge in his article, “America the Illiteracy”, approximately 32 million adults in America are illiterate and about 14% of the entire adult population cannot read. Illiteracy is an important aspect in our society this is because it has some impacts on the Economy of a country. The causes of illiteracy are many. It is on these bases that non-profit organizations play a significant role in alleviating this social problem. I had the opportunity to volunteer at Metro South Basic Education which has as main goal the reinsertion of adults in education and reduce the level of illiteracy. Metro South quite solves the problem of high cost education because this organization offers free reading, writing and mathematics classes. The question we ask ourselves is how effective this organization works to mobilize these adults to come back to school. Even though education is costly in the USA and that many people leave school early to find a job, this non-profit organization put things together by offering free classes at a flexible schedule. It

The inability to know how to write or read information, which allows you to contribute to society and strive for success, is a form of illiteracy. Having to lack the skills to process information by reading or writing puts a handicap on one's development in school, socially and interaction within their community. The following essay is on adult literacy it will be in the tale the reason behind adult literacy. The discussion will be on how adult literacy affects our society and how this a world problem not just a United States of America problem. Statistics this essay will bring a look how globally illiteracy is changing the world economically.

In past years, literacy was an issues in some countries. In past years, Illiteracy was a big issue to some countries like Pakistan, Ghana Ethiopia, South Africa and other places in Africa. Over the past years, the government of these countries focused on education. The levels of literacy in these countries was too high and there were causes of negative impact toward education. For instance, literacy rate of girls in Pakistan and family were the negative impact. Literacy rates for both gender was too high in Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa and the negative impact was poverty.

The quality and intensity of these processes are influenced by a family’s social environment and cultural capital. During the first few years of their lives, children of illiterate parents probably have few opportunities to learn communication codes, or to learn to read and write.“ (Martinez&Fernandez 2010) This is the never-ending cycle mentioned earlier, when born to parents who themselves are illiterate the chances for a child to learn are slim from the start. The article goes on to discus how poverty stricken families place little value on education instead placing work as most important. It is quiet common both here in America and across the globe for children to leave school in order to work full time jobs in order to help provide basic needs such as food and clothes. When it comes down to it the question these people are forced to ask is would I rather spend eight hours a day in a classroom or earning money for my family. Later in the article when discussing how education is a determinant of economic growth, the authors state that higher levels of literacy and education among the populace leads to a positive effect on the economy. One argument made is that it leads to a better understating of new and emerging technologies, which is needed to compete on the global level. There are numerous social consequences to illiteracy, some pointed out in the article include; negative effects on health, children’s education, economic status, and social cohesion. All problems

Illiteracy is a common problem amongst children and adults. Illiteracy exists in all nations all over the world. Not having the ability to read and comprehend is a fault of the school systems. Many people assume that illiterate Americans are concentrated in large cities with troubled schools. Although this may be true in some cases, there are rural areas where illiteracy is often times are overlooked. The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization released a study stating that 905 million individuals between 15 years of age and adulthood cannot read, which is almost one-quarter of the world’s population. The problem at hand is attempting to determine whether education for a child can be achieved at a rural or an urban school district. According to Greenberg and Teixeira the gap between well and poorly prepared student scores on the SAT and ACT exams is widening, according to 1998 statistics released by the College Board. The majority of this problem is due to: education systems, culture, poverty, family responsibility.

In past years, Illiteracy was a big issue to some countries like Pakistan, Ghana Ethiopia, South Africa and other places in Africa. Over the past years, the government of these countries focused on education. The levels of literacy in these countries was too high and there were causes of negative impact toward education. For instance, literacy rate of girls in Pakistan and family were the negative impact. Literacy rates for both gender was too high in Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa and the negative impact was poverty.

Throughout the recent years, illiteracy has been a problem that affects human in the society, due to lack of knowledge and development that these people lack. This paper attempts to analyze the efforts of Jonathan Kozol and Michelle Obama who argued the heartrending reality of the illiteracy case along with the lack of development in a so progressive country as is the United States. Also, Kozol’s major emphasis is, firstly the continued segregation in the American societies based on a few baseless factors such as race and sex. Secondly, he attempts to showcase how and to what extent illiteracy in adults can be not just a flaw in the society but to human ethics in general. Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States of America is of the same opinion as to how blacks have been denied educations in America for many centuries. There was a preconceived notion that blacks should not and cannot be educated. Both Obama and Kozol are of the same opinion that there has been an indiscrimination of education on a few factors. When the author speaks of illiteracy, he does not simply speak of the economic concerns but on the moral questions and the ethical dilemmas that are faced by a society unanimously when half of its population is illiterate and thereby inefficient towards daily survival. As a result, Illiteracy has been not just a personal lack but a societal one which brings down the economic, political, social and moral standards of that society. I totally agree with the author because indeed, Illiterate people cannot interact in society, they are isolated because they can't write and read, and because of that, they cannot express well as a society.

In past years, literacy was an issues in some countries. In past years, Illiteracy was a big issue to some countries like Pakistan, Ghana Ethiopia, South Africa and other places in Africa. Over the past years, the government of these countries focused on education. The levels of literacy in these countries was too high and there were causes of negative impact toward education. For instance, literacy rate of girls in Pakistan and family were the negative impact. Literacy rates for both gender was too high in Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa and the negative impact was poverty.