How is literacy used as a hegemonic tool/ tool of power? By whom? Against whom? Reference at least 2 of this week’s course materials?.
Literacy can be used as a hegemonic tool to facilitate the reproduction of power relations within a social formation. Literate people can read decrees to peasants, demand their labor or produce, and fill other roles. However, having too many literate people can make the system more difficult to manage. Tool of power. Literacy can be used to fight social injustice. The acquisition of literacy comes with a responsibility to serve others who do not have the ability to read or write. Literacy can also lead to greater self-reliance and civic engagement.
Has the Black community truly been afforded equal access to literacy necessary to be successful in contemporary America? Reference Richard Wright’s “The Library Card” and any other sources, including your own experience, if you wish?.
“Whenever my environment had failed to support or nourish me, I had clutched at books…” Richard Wright surmises that people that read books gain knowledge. Books can have an impact on a person’s life, as demonstrated in “The Library Card.” He also established the importance or value of education and his wish to read. Richard Wright’s life changed when he began to read. He realized that he was converting into another person, mentally. Wright understood why African Americans were discriminated against. African Americans didn’t get the same opportunities as white people, such as not being able to go to the library and read a book. This reading, “The Library Card”, has a huge impact on society because it shows that anyone is capable of accomplishing anything they want as long as they are ready to work on it.
How can we help establish more equality for the Black/ African-American community in the US?
While most Americans agree that the country needs to do more to achieve racial equality, some tactics for achieving this goal are seen as more effective than others. For example, about half of Americans say it would be very effective for groups working to help blacks achieve equality to work directly with community members to solve problems in their communities. while fewer say bringing people of different racial backgrounds together to talk about race working to get more black people elected to office or organizing protests and rallies would be very effective. Blacks are generally more likely than whites to say most of these tactics would be effective for groups working to promote racial equality, but at least seven-in-ten among each group say working directly with community members, bringing people of different backgrounds together for dialogue, and working to get more black people elected to office would be at least somewhat effective.
