Illiteracy in America
Illiteracy, it’s a curse for our nation. The inability to read and write is a serious burden. The higher the percentage of illiteracy, the more a society can crumble. An illiterate person is someone who is unable to find a prosperous life; as a result they can become a slave for others which causes them to live through embarrassment and fear. Basic education is essential, if not sufficient, condition for a healthy, democratic, tolerant country. Even though illiteracy could be considered the root cause of many problems including poverty, they find many ways to get through their day to day lives.
Education and literacy plays an important role for building an economic and stable environment. Numerous of issues in America could be fixed if half the percent of illiterates could read. If an illiterate was able to research topics and find a way to support truths, it can open up a whole new world for them. In the article, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society”, Jonathan Kozol stated that, “If even one third of all illiterates could vote and read enough and do sufficient math to vote in their self-interest, Ronald Reagan would not likely have been chosen president”(115). If even one third of illiterates knew enough, it could change America for the better. If illiterates worked hard enough for an education, it could lead to a happy life. They could enjoy the good things the world has to offer. In the article, “Understanding Literacy and Numeracy,” it states, “Literacy, numeracy, and technology information-rich environments. What people know and what they do with what they know has a major impact on their life chances”(1). Someone who strives for education and implies what they know into their lives has a better outcome than someone who can read at a level that barely makes it possible to function in society. “The Illiterate in American Society: Some General Hypotheses,” an article written by Howard Freeman and Gene Kassebaum, the RAND corporation of Harvard University, reads “Considerable emphasis is given to the role of communication in the functioning of an on-going society because in the ideal case we assume the existence of actors who, to a greater or lesser degree, understand one another”(1). If everyone could in America understood one another, either by reading or speaking, everyone would be equal. The world should be a fair place where everyone is given equal opportunities. The only way to achieve this is through education.
Those who have low to no literacy skills are more prone to live in poverty. These are the people who cannot afford another burden in life. Because of illiteracy, they do not know how to earn or spend well. As a result, they can not escape their poverty trap. Jonathan Kozol, in The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society, explains how “Illiterates cannot read the lease that they must sign to live in an apartment which, too often, they cannot afford”(117). Kozol argues this to emphasis that illiterates in America will continue to live in poverty if they cannot read something as simple as their lease. Most poor families are unable to afford educational fees because of bills, travel, etc. Illiterates are also more likely to face health problems because they can’t read prescription labels or instructions. Kozol gives an example of this when he talks about a woman who went to get her tubes tied, signed the wrong papers, and instead, got a hysterectomy. Something minor, such as reading, can affect people’s lives in a substantial way. However, no one is aware because this issue remains inferior.
America is filled with people who can communicate in advanced languages. They fill roads and buildings with words that have no meaning to illiterates. Since they do not know how to read or write, they often live a life of uncertainty, fear, and embarrassment. Kozol states, in the Human Cost of an Illiterate Society, that “Not Knowing: This is a familiar theme. Not knowing the right word for the right thing at the right time is one form of subjugation. Not knowing the world that lies concealed behind those words is a more terrifying feeling”(120). Kozol also gives many real life testimonials of illiterates that have to go through with these feelings everyday. One was about how a man’s car breaks down. He calls the police, but cannot figure out where he is to get help, the only words he can read is one-way street. Another is about a mother who shares one of her greatest fears, “What do I do if one of my kids starts choking? I go running to the phone… I can’t look up the hospital phone number. That’s if we were at home. Out on the streets, I can’t read the sign. I get to a pay phone. ‘Okay, tell us where you are. We’ll send an ambulance.’ I look at the street sign. Right there, I can’t tell you what it says. I’d have to spell it out, letter to letter. By that time, one of my kids would be dead… These are the kinds of fears you go with, every single day”(120). She, like many other illiterates, lives in constant fear of the unknown.
Throughout an illiterates’ life, there will be times where they have to interact with literates, so despite the issue that they have, they come up with several different alternatives to barely get by in their day to day lives. In the article, “The Illiterate in American Society: Some General Hypotheses,” by Howard Freeman and Gene Kassebaum they state that, “There are many interacting situations, however, in which he must participate in the larger group. When such interaction occurs, the illiterate has recourse to a number of alternatives which can be viewed as varieties of three patterns: (1) compliance. (2) concealment, or (3) substitution”. The google definition of compliance is the action or fact of complying with a wish or command. Illiterates use this to avoid conflict and act the way people expect them to act. Concealment is the act of hiding it. This is what many illiterates do because of the shame that is placed on them. In the article, “32 Million U.S Adults are Functionally Illiterate What Does That Even Mean,” by Daniel Lattier, the vice president for Intellectual Takeout, tells an example of an illiterate father. “Walter Long also had a secret: He could not read. He faked it well until one night when he was reading— or pretending to read- a story to his 4 year old daughter, Joanna”She told him that he didn’t read they way her mom read”(1). Another example of someone who tried to pass as an literate is in the article Kozol wrote. A mother who wanted to buy her children dinner accidentally buys Crisco. She thought the chicken on the label was what she was buying. When an illiterate has a goal in mind, they will try and pass as literate. For the most part, it does not work in their favor. Finally, substitution is the act of replacing something. Illiterates use this to replace things which literates employ. Freeman and Kassebaum give an example of this, “A young man who had completed only two grades of school and who was employed as a retail butcher was asked, in view of his failing arithmetic test, how he figured the prices of purchases. He replied that he used an adding machine and a card and there with produced a chart showing costs of fractions of pounds at various values per pound.” Although illiteracy is a problem that needs to be addressed, there are ways that an illiterate can get around their burden.