Literacy and the Black Woman by Sharon M. Darling
Black women have been being oppressed for hundreds of years. They were never afforded some of the rights given to black men or white women. This leads to the notion that Black woman are faced with a double bias, race and sex, which "justifies" why black women are at the mercy of white political system. Luckily, black women learned early on that one of the major factors causing a division between them and their oppressors was literacy. As black women tried to max their education they still did not achieve the same level as their white counterparts, which contributes to the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. Secretly they were determined to learn to read, write, and educate their children.
Immediately after the emancipation of the enslaved people Black women believed they would get the education they had always sought. Before their dream could manifest, many laws were passed banning their education. After some social pressure Black woman were allowed to get an education but it was not a very good one. The educations they were allowed to receive served more as a regulation rather than something to uplift them. They were taught in a manner that would never allow them to become economically, or educationally equal to White women. 25% of the world is illiterate, 60% of these people are females, 44% of these females being Black.
Sharon Darling’s essay Literacy and the Black Woman speaks about this sensitive topic. As young Black women, we can appreciate many of the possible perspectives on this subject. It is understandable that it has always been hard for Black women to thrive in a society such as the one we live in, and that it may be difficult to prosper. The essay entails a general idea that Black women have a sense of hopelessness and despair, almost as if the task of becoming a literate Black female is an impossible feat. It uses some of life’s obstacles as a crutch disabling Black women from being strong empowered figures. When examining a Historically Black all female institution such as Spelman College one can see how far from the truth that really is. Our school is filled with young women with a powerful thirst for knowledge, pushing themselves to succeed against all odds. In this article the answer to this problem of Black women and their poor literacy is establishing more programs that will help them. It explains in order to really help them we must build a literacy gap which means to meet them where they are and to provide resources not only educationally but socially as well.
I agree with the statement that more programs that can help Black women learn and become literate in society. In my opinion what will really help those black women is if more young Black women, such as ourselves and other women seeking a higher education, go out into the community and help teach these women. Maybe if they see other black women who are pursuing education it will encourage them to try and learn and become more than functionally literate in our society. -Mary Williams
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree that early on Black women realized the importance of being a literate person in society. Their children benefit from their mother's literacy. As a result of becoming more knowledgable about the world through literacy, Black women became able to spread this knowledge to their children. Darling notes that, "Illiterate women are less likely to read to their children...(20)." Without literacy, black women are burdened with children who may not take school or education seriously. Darling describes this problem as a "vicious cycle of illiteracy (20)." I recognize that going to Spelman College not only prepares this generation but for many intelligent black women in the future.
ReplyDelete-Lauren Tripplett
I completely with this post. A black women, particularily free thinking black women of Spelman College, we understand that literacy is a primary tool to success. In understanding our history as a people, we know that this tool was not easily afforded to us. It was one that our foremothers have fought for diligently and thus, something that we as their successors should take pride in and repect. It is our duty to honor them and their efforts to make our world better and ensure that we take a better place in it. It is also our responsibilty to continue their work and serve our communities around us, making sure that those we work on behalf of today are able to reap the benefits of that work tomorrow. As Spelman women, we understand the importance of service and that should begin with providing services to our people and making sure they understand the value of having the ability to read, write, comprehend and communicate.
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ReplyDeleteYou all expressed that it seemed as though the article conveyed a sense of hopelessness in regard to black women and their chances of becoming a functioning member of society as a literate black female. As i read through Darling's article, I felt as though she did not have very much faith in what an illiterate black woman could do for herself in regards to bettering herself. I believe with every fiber of my being that we are our sisters keeper and we are duty-bound to do whatever we can to improve these negative statistics. I also believe however that the notion of the "strong black woman" is redundant in that as black women we have no choice but to be strong; it is imherent. I think as Spelman women, when the time comes for us to really go out in the world and make a difference, we have to have more faith in what our "strong" sisters are capable.
ReplyDeleteTaylor Carter