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Illiteracy remains
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w ith few er than six y e a n in school is double that o f those w ith 9 -1 1 y e a n o f
schooling. This tends to become cyclical fo r the odds that children o f illiterates
w ill also be illiterate has been borne out in studies. It seems that illiteracy, then,
is an unw anted b irth rig h t passed on by caring, b ut o fte n powerless parents.
Deprivation in the hom e where there are none, or at best, too few reading m a
terials. is often coupled w ith the lack o f support needed to indicate that reading
is both enjoyable and essential. A ccording to H a k i R. M a d h u b iti, an auth or
and publisher, ** .. nonreading people may be the most dangerous contributing
factor in our misdevelopment over the last 23 years in this c o u n try."
/ i
W h a t is the cure? Is there one? I t has been d eterm ined that S3 b illio n , or
$100 per illiterate, is needed to effect a cure. W e are a long way fro m that sum.
A t present, about $3 .30 is spent by the government for literacy programs, and
the threat that even that paltry sum may be cut is very real Some say that the
monies needed should come fro m the private sector; another group advocates
more government involvem ent; still a third group demands that the schools do
more in the reading program s and lecher training/selection. There is no easy
answ er, yet the p ro b le m m ust be a ttacked s w iftly i f we are to keep it fro m
PGE e le c tric ity i
th e clock. W hen
all i t
worsening.
Several programs have been started to address the crisis. In New Y o rk C ity,
the L ite ra c y V o lu n te e rs O rg a n iz a tio n has in s titu te d a p ro g ram th a t brings
130,000 adu lt volunteer tutors in to the classroom . U n iversity o f M ia m i stu-
O /ic o f the w orld's most fa m o u s teacher/philosophers was an
illiterate Black slave in Greece named Aesop.
Thurgood M arshall o f th a N A A C P Legal D afanaa Fund and Daisy
Ba taa. Arkansas Stats NAACP President, on tha steps of tha Supreme
Court w ith students that integrated Central High School of U ttia Rock.
Arkansas, in 1967.
dents tutor illiterate public school children fo r academic credit. C o rp oratio ns
such as G M and D o w C h em ical have program s fo r their employees and are
vide discounts fo r R IF books. T o d a y over 127,000 volunteers serve 4 700 R IF
projects in this country, whose headquarters are located in the nation's capital.
reaching out into their communities to aid public school students. These com
A n other reading incentive program has recently been introduced by W o rld
B ook-C hildcraft, and is called P A T H (Parents and teachers H elping). It is de
signed to assist parents in stimulating their children to read at home. Co-spon
panies are sware that because inadequate education results in an unprepared
labor force, im proved education m ay decrease the costs that the corporations
w ould have to assume in the future fo r extra training, accidents and injuries
sored by 27 stale P T A 's , it supports basic reading programs in the school sys
w ithin their plants.
Since reading is the basis for literacy, in 1977 B. D alton Bookseller, the na
tion's largest bookstore chain, decided to institute a program to im prove and
tem and attempts to encourage children to read more and watch less T V . Guides
are p ro v id e d w ith o u t cost to a n y in te re s te d P T A , p a re n t g ro u p s , a n d /
As far reaching as the programs mentioned are, more businesses and individuak
encourage reading among the country's poor readers. Il pledges five percent o f
its annual taxable income to its literacy program . B. D a lto n is involved in 10
are needed to take an active role in turning the tide against illiteracy. T o the individ
states and 40 communities at the present time with grants, management assist
ance and volunteer tutors. T he com pany is attem pting to organize a network
between the public and private sector on a national level to develop a n ation
Therefore, care must he taken to educate, and consequently change, the defensive
attitude that many adults have about this delicate problem. They can then determine
wide literacy program .
O ne o f the most am b itio us literacy projects was begun in 1966 out o f an
idea born o f simple curiosity. T h e late M rs. Robert M c N a m a ra decided to see
about thar future.
W ith almost half o f our children afflicted with illiteracy, it is incumbent ukpon
those o f us who can, to help these o f us who can't gain the necessary skills to enable
what would happen if some students fro m low-incom e families in W ashington.
D .C ., were allowed to choose and keep books that they liked. W hen she found
that their response was that reading was fun, R IF or Reading is Fundam ental,
them to join in the workforce and earn a decent w age As staled in a recent article in
was born. A t her urging, in 1975 Congress created the Inexpensive Book D istri
bution Program ( IB D P ) which provides matching funds based on amounts that
R IF raises locally to buy books for children.
R IF also persuaded the Smithsonian Institute in W ashington, D .C ., to adopt
R IF and act as its Fiscal agent. W aldo n Books and Time Magazine prom ote the
project through advertisements. Hundreds o f publishers and distributors pro-
T h e Independent Scholar and
Tha Bicentennial Obeenmnce^
A m o n g J. M. G ates' cre a tiv e celeb ratio n w e re :
The Elements o f Change by G at«, © 1976
7 V Free and the finrve by G at«, © 1976
Commentary in The American Grain — Oregon Long Poems, © 1976
Notations fro m the Twentieth Century (manuscript with analytical
commentary by G a t « on early post-war Japan including the Four
teenth United S ta t« Japan Student Conference)
Circle 37 (Bicentennial Commemorative Edition) edited by Gates.
© 1977
W o rk in A n th o lo g ies:
200 Years to Here, © 1976
uals involved, illiteracy can be socially embarrassing and psychologically devastating
that the interest shown in their children is not patronizing, but a genuine concern
flfartk Enierpmr, " ........ in a capitalist society, however eke a person's worth is mea
sured, issues o f wealth and income ukltimately enter into the equation that deter
mines parity between the majority and the m inority.” W ith so many o f our people
illiterate or poorly educated, the opportunity to achieve parity ls no nexistent
Hie issue, then, ls vers clear Since help will not be asailable in any large amounts
from die governmcnt(s), we must set up our own programs within our own com-
niuniim W ith strong leadership and dcdxaicd volunteers, sve can close the literacy
gap
Anthology o f Bells, © 1978
C ited in:
Contemporary Authors, © 1976
Drum Voices, © 1976
Dictionary o f International Biography, © 1976
Afro-American Poetry and Drama 1760-1976, © 1979
and other Bicentennial publications
G ates' p o em s and prose relate th e
d yn am ics o f th e w o rk e n v iro n m e n t.
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PORTLAND
OBSERVER
Mary Futrell
Winner of American
Black Achievement
Award
Mary Hatwood Futrell, the
president o f the National Educa
tion Association, is the recipient
o f the Business and the Profes
sions A ward fo r her achievements
as president o f the National Edu
cation Association, A merica's
largest teachers union with a
membership o f 1.7 million, and
fo r her commitment to the task o f
improving the quality o f public
school education.
Albertsons'
e c<e i <s»i <« m k* it im w c
Page 12, Section II, Portland Observer, February 20, 1985
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