Other southern states passed equally strict anti-literacy laws at the time. In 1833, an Alabama law stated that “any person or person who attempts to teach a free person of color or a slave to spell, read, or write shall be fined at least two hundred and fifty dollars upon conviction.” (The fine would be equivalent to about $7,600 in today`s dollars.) The state of Missouri, which was incorporated as a slave state in 1821, passed an anti-literacy law in 1847 that states: There are many undeniable ways in which reading and writing continue to empower individuals in our society today. When we take a look at history, we remember those who lost their lives for the right to read and for the ability to write. When our slave ancestors were freed, one of the first things they did was to prioritize literacy. So much so that the education rate among blacks rose from 20% in 1810 to 70% in 1910. Free Black People also created schools of freedom where children could learn to read and write. As a result, it was always the slave`s step to control who could read and what he could read in order to try to curb any form of resistance to the system that kept him in his position. The state of Alabama passed an anti-literacy law in the form of a slavery law that states that southern educators have also found ways to circumvent and challenge the law. John Berry Meachum, for example, moved his school (The Candle Tallow School) from St. Louis, Missouri, when the state passed an anti-literacy law in 1847, and established it as a floating freedom school on a steamboat on the Mississippi River that was beyond the reach of Missouri law. Here are some examples of laws that prohibit the training of slaves. Jay-p. investigation 136.
This volume brings together eminent scholars to examine the intersections of race, justice and activism directly related to the teaching and learning of critical literacy. The authors focus on the practice of literacy, which reflects how students – with the loving and critical support of teachers and teacher instructors – engage in resistance work and work together for social change. Imagine being one of those readers looking for knowledge that reflects and discourages your own human experience. Unfortunately, there was a time in the United States when some people were forbidden to learn to read or write because of their skin color. Historically, blacks have not been allowed to read, write, or even own a book because of anti-literacy laws. Anti-literacy laws made it illegal for slaves and people of color who were free to read or write. The southern slave states enacted anti-literacy laws between 1740 and 1834 that prohibited anyone from teaching slaves and free people of color to read or write. The purpose of this blog is to shed light on the history of anti-literacy laws that restricted black access to literacy, and to demonstrate the resilience of a people who used their emancipated spirit to achieve literacy by any means necessary.
John Hope Franklin says that despite the laws, schools for enslaved black students existed throughout the South, including Georgia, Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia. In 1838, Virginia`s free black population asked the state as a group to send their children to school outside of Virginia to circumvent the anti-literacy law. They were rejected. [8] The literacy of black Americans also threatened an important justification for slavery — that blacks were “less than human, permanently illiterate, and stupid,” Lusane says. “This is refuted when African Americans were trained and undermined the logic of the system.” The struggle to ensure that books dealing with issues of race, class, and student rights are kept in our schools is a broader struggle. The struggle that, just because it could potentially make whites uncomfortable, speaks for privilege and how laws can be adapted to the comfort of those who don`t want to question a system created to their advantage. Although he denies those who have remained in this system, especially blacks and potential allies and abolitionists who would stand with us. As we see in this article, there were laws in the books that prevented a person from teaching a black person to read or write. This is not because the black man could not learn, but because he prevented it. It is impossible to enslave the body of a person whose mind is free. This should be a sign of the importance of education and teaching.
Find your needs with our Amazon affiliate link below Between 1740 and 1834, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, and Virginia all passed anti-literacy laws. [6] South Carolina passed the first law prohibiting slaves from teaching reading and writing, punishable by a fine of 100 pounds and six months in prison, by amending its Black Law of 1739. [7] [8] Notes from a White Professor (Teaching and Learning in Higher Education) Teaching about race and racism can be a difficult undertaking. Students and teachers often struggle with strong emotions, and many people have strong prejudices about race. At the same time, it is a moment that requires a clear understanding of racism. It is important for students to learn how we got here and that racism is more than just individual acts of wickedness. Students should also understand that color blindness is not an effective anti-racism strategy. In the North, where slavery had been abolished in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, free African Americans created institutions to eliminate illiteracy in the black community. One of the most popular strategies was to found literary societies such as the Theban Literary Society of Pittsburgh and the African American Female Intelligence Society of Boston. Racial literacy, a set of discursive and deciphering skills that enable individuals to question race and racism, as well as representation and personal identity, is crucial in a contemporary society committed to meritocracy and post-racism, where racism and racism continue to lead to fear, violence and inequality. Because racial literacy requires individuals to develop a set of discursive tools that allow them to read critically and respond to broader societal situations and practices, as well as examine rhetorical practices and the power of racial ideology, there is no better place for racial literacy development than the college composition class.
It is said that “knowledge is power”. Historically, blacks have been deprived of knowledge because of anti-literacy laws. I believe that anti-literacy is anti-knowledge. Although anti-literacy laws no longer exist, critical racial theory (CRT) has emerged as a new form of this ideology. CrT studies how structural inequalities persist even if laws are in place to address them. However, lawmakers are engaging in fear campaigns over critical racial theory, claiming it is taught in classrooms. These claims have no roots, but are only the tentacles of lies that reach the hearts of those who try to cleanse their bigotry. The produced version of CRT is just an attempt to justify the selective erasure of history that recognizes the ugly truth of our nation`s past when it comes to people of color. Since the introduction of the CRT, twenty-two states have tried or proposed to regulate the teaching of racism in the classroom.
Unfortunately, this also led to the banning of books written by black authors.